Santa Ana man facing felony charges after stabbing his friend

Update: We were contacted today by the family of the suspect. They feel that he was defending himself in this incident and are upset at how the suspect and his alleged actions were portrayed by the SAPD.

Yecsi Castelanballinas, a 24-year-old man, stabbed a friend of his, in Santa Ana, after he invited his pal to come over to smoke marijuana. Now Castelanballinas is facing felony charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and battery with serious bodily injury. He is also going to have to deal with sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury on the victim and the personal use of a deadly weapon.

The SAPD reported that Castelanballinas invited his friend over to “smoke a joint and something wrong and he stabbed him multiple times.” Castelanballinas admitted to the police that he “apparently has mental health issues.”

The SAPD had responded to the scene regarding a fight involving a gun however when the responding police officers arrived they found that the victim had been stabbed multiple times, not shot. They then arrested Castelanballinas and the victim was taken to a hospital. He had wounds that were considered to be non life-threatening.