Knife attack in West Palm parking lot leaves 1 stabbed to death, 1 facing murder charge
WEST PALM BEACH — A fight between two men in West Palm Beach last month resulted in one being stabbed to death and the other being arrested on a murder charge.
Manuel Orozco, 51, of Greenacres is facing one count of second-degree murder after police alleged that he killed 54-year-old Iosvani Casonova Moreno during an altercation on the night of Feb. 29 outside a community grocery store on the 3900 block of Lake Avenue. Moreno's body was later found less half mile to the south, outside a bank on 800 block of Southern Boulevard.
Orozco was arrested Tuesday, March 26, and told to appear at a bail hearing at the courthouse annex at the Palm Beach County Jail. He declined to appear for the hearing, records show.
Circuit Judge Donald Hafele assigned Orozco a public defender and ordered that he be held without bail. Hafele also ordered that Orozco have no contact either with Moreno's family or witnesses. As a policy, the county Public Defender's Office does not comment on open cases.
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Body found in bushes near bank parking lot along Southern Boulevard
According to a West Palm Beach police report, officers responded to a 911 at about 10 p.m. on Feb. 29 and found Moreno lying in the northeast corner of a bank parking lot near the Southdale Shopping Center.
They observed what appeared to be a stab wound to his chest. West Palm Beach Fire Rescue medics arrived and declared Moreno dead.
A man using the bank's drive-up automated teller machine observed Moreno lying in the bushes, went to a nearby Publix supermarket and instructed employees to call 911.
A witness contacted police the next day and described hearing about an altercation between Orozco and Moreno. She was shown a photo of the stabbing victim and said she recognized the person as Moreno.
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Men drank beer outside store before fighting, witnesses said
Another witness described Orozco and Moreno hanging out and drinking beer outside a neighborhood grocery store.
A store surveillance-camera video showed separate altercations between Orozco and Moreno minutes apart, the police report said. Moreno was seen shoving Orozco and causing him to fall. About five minutes later, Orozco could be seen removing something from a green handbag and then attacking Moreno, police said.
Moreno was seen walking south on Lake Avenue in the direction of the bank where he was found.
On March 2, officers obtained a warrant to collect DNA from Orozco. He declined to provide a statement to investigators regarding the events of Feb. 29.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Fatal stabbing in West Palm Beach parking lot leads to murder arrest
