Fatal stabbing occurs during fight at NW Bakersfield party

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — One man shoulder-checked another outside a house party and they both fought back.

Before the fight started, a shirt was taken off, and then they went at it; others jumped.

When the incident ended, 20-year-old Lawrence James Leyvas was stabbed in the neck. The man was taken to hospital and pronounced dead within an hour.

According to eyewitness accounts included in sheriff’s reports, 19-year-old Bradley Perez told other partygoers that he got scared when he saw Leyvas reaching into his pocket and stabbed him.

But cellphone video of the fight shows Leyvas being attacked by four men, and according to reports, “At no time do you see Leyvas reach into his pockets as if he were trying to grab something.” No weapon was found on him.

Perez pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge and is due back in court in December.

Deputies were dispatched around 2:20 a.m. on Oct. 6 to a report of a stabbing on Stone River Court, south of Hageman Road and west of Renfro Road. Leyvas, who suffered a single stab wound to the right side of his neck, was pronounced dead at Southwest Mercy Hospital at 3:03 a.m.

According to the information obtained, a person living in the house where the party was held found a pocket knife with blood on it in the trash can on the side of the house. Deputies seized the knife.

After interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence, including cellphone footage, detectives arrested Perez on Oct. 10. He is being held without bail.

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