MARTIN COUNTY – A 26-year-old Port St. Lucie man died as a result of multiple stab wounds sustained in a fight with a man he hardly knew, sheriff’s officials said.
Robert Tyler Meadows fought with the man Saturday during what police said was their girlfriends’ hair appointment inside a Hobe Sound home.
Law enforcement officials were still looking for the man late Monday.
Following the altercation inside the Seabranch Boulevard residence, the man, who is considered a suspect in the killing, fled south with his girlfriend leading to an ongoing multi-county and multi-law enforcement agency search, according to Martin County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy John Budensiek.
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“The last known location we have for him was Saturday night at a Sunoco station on Indiantown Road in Jupiter,” Budensiek said Monday.
Six people were inside the rented home in the gated Preserve of Hobe Sound community, he said.
Meadows died from his wounds shortly before 7 p.m. after being transported by helicopter to HCA Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce.
“It’s our understanding they hardly knew each other,” Budensiek said, referring to Meadows and the man with whom he fought. “(Meadows’) girlfriend was getting her hair trimmed or taken care of by the suspect’s girlfriend.”
Although each person in the home has been questioned, he said detectives were withholding certain information, such as what spurred the fight and how many times Meadows was stabbed.
“We want to talk to the suspect first,” he said.
The fight started in Meadows’ rented bedroom and ended in what was said to be a common area of the home shortly before 6 p.m.
The suspect’s last known residence was in Jupiter, which is where Budensiek said he was taken and dropped off by his girlfriend at the Sunoco gas station.
“He left Martin County and went down in to Palm Beach County,” Budensiek said. “We knew immediately who we were looking for (and) the vehicle they were in.”
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Jupiter police were notified leading to a traffic stop.
The woman stopped was not identified, but Budensiek sspanid she wspans questioned by Jupiter police.
She was said to be on the phone with the suspect at the time of the stop, and police said she partially cooperated with police in their attempts to find the man. She was not arrested.
A weapon in the stabbing has not been recovered.
Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of Jared Diaz, 30, on charges of aggravated manslaughter, Budensiek said.
He said if anyone has information about the altercation or Diaz to contact the Martin County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency line at 772-220-7000 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477.