1-Year-Old Boy Stabbed to Death at Ventura Home, Father Arrested

The father, also found with stab wounds, called police to report the child's death early Friday, police said

A father was arrested Friday on suspicion of stabbing to death his 1-year-old son in their Ventura home, police said.

The father, identified as Adrian Navarrete-Gonzalez, 28, called police and told them the boy was dead at the residence in the 400 block of Crocker Avenue at 1:45 a.m., according to the Ventura Police Department.

Officers found the boy, named Jacob, on a bed with stab wounds. He died at the home.

Navarrete-Gonzalez had stab wounds to his upper body, police said. He remained hospitalized after surgery Friday and was arrested on suspicion of homicide, officials said. He will be jailed after he is released from the hospital.

Police have not said whether Navarrete-Gonzalez's wounds were self-inflicted.

Navarrete-Gonzalez did not mention during the call to police that he had been stabbed, said Cmdr. Darin Schindler.

Eight other people were at the home when police arrived, Ventura police told the Ventura County Star. The three- or four-bedroom home is shared by several families, each renting a room at the residence, according to investigators.

"He was really nice," neighbor Nayeli Mejia told NBC4 of Navarrete-Gonzalez.

"I'm still in shock," neighbor Mark Marquez said. "As a parent, grandparent, it really got me."

Navarrete-Gonzalez had lived at the home for a couple of months, neighbors said. The child's mother, who lives at a different address, was not at the residence at the time of the stabbing, police said.

"He and the wife either recently separated or are going through a separation, and he has custody," Schindler said.

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