Police said described the suspect as a dark-haired Hispanic man with a medium build, who was wearing sunglasses, a black shirt and jean shorts. Anyone with information is asked to call the Holyoke Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at (413) 322-6940.
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Investigators confer at the scene of Sunday's fatal stabbing in Holyoke, the city's first homicide of the year. The male victim, a city resident, was stabbed in the neck outside Las Chicas Market, 341 Appleton St., around 11:15 a.m.David Molnar / The Republican
A story about the victim was posted at 7:01 p.m.
HOLYOKE — It was supposed to be a day of family fun in Holyoke, but instead police were investigating the Paper City's first homicide of the year.
As large crowds were gathering along Sunday's parade route for the Western Mass Puerto Rican Parade, the highlight of the Hispanic Family Festival, a man was stabbed in the neck several blocks away in the parking lot of Las Chicas Market – the scene of a 2011 homicide.
First responders were dispatched around 11:15 a.m. to the corner of Elm and Appleton streets, where they found a man with stab wounds to the throat. The victim, a city resident whom police have yet to publicly identify, was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield where he was pronounced dead.
"We're now interviewing witnesses and taking statements and collecting evidence," Capt. Denise M. Duguay, head of the Holyoke Police Criminal Investigation Bureau, said Sunday afternoon.
Massachusetts State Police investigators assigned to the office of Hampden District Attorney James C. Orenstein and troopers from the Crime Scene Services Section were also called to the murder scene.
Holyoke Police Chief Jim Neiswanger told CBS3 Springfield, media partner of MassLive / The Republican, that the stabbing stemmed from a fight between the victim and another man. Neiswanger said it was too early in the investigation to discuss a motive, but the incident wasn't random and had nothing to do with the nearby Hispanic Family Festival parade.
"It's an unfortunate event and we hate to see this sort of thing happen," he told the TV station.
The killing is Holyoke's first in ten months.
Meanwhile, authorities described the suspect as a dark-haired Hispanic man with a medium build. He was wearing sunglasses, a black shirt and jean shorts, and he fled the area in an unknown direction.
Holyoke police are asking anyone with information to call the Criminal Investigation Bureau at (413) 322-6940. The Police Department's general line is (413) 322-6900.
This is not the first homicide to happen in the vicinity of Las Chicas Market. In June 2011, Reynaldo Fuentes, 23, was fatally shot behind the market at 341 Appleton St., just a few feet from where today's victim was stabbed.
State Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, said he was disheartened to learn of the killing. "It's just sad that, on a day when we are celebrating Puerto Rican culture, we have to hear this news," he said.
Vega said he saw some commotion when he drove by Appleton Street on his way to the parade, but he didn't think much of it. "Unfortunately, the street is notorious for police activity, so we just continued on to the parade," he said.
Vega, who marched in Sunday's parade, didn't hear about the stabbing until after the march had ended.
"I went to Springdale Park to have some lunch with my family and enjoy the end of the festival, and we started hearing whispers about it," he said. "I just received confirmation from a city official a few minutes ago," he said late Sunday afternoon.
Vega said Holyoke, like any other city, is doing the best it can to combat street violence.
"The police work hard to establish relationships with residents in a particular neighborhood and do drug sweeps, but then it pops up in another neighborhood," he said.
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said he was "saddened and angered" by the crime. "At a time when so many members of our community are joining in common purpose, it is regrettable that a small minority of our citizens persist in violent criminal behavior," he said.
Despite the tragedy, Morse said the homicide would only "strengthen our resolve in building a city in which everyone feels safe, and in which we all play an equal part in shaping the future."
The mayor said he plans to call a meeting of city officials to "address the rampant criminal activity at this particular corner," which he characterized as "a notorious hotspot."
Republican reporter Jeanette DeForge contributed to this report.
MAP showing approximate location of fatal stabbing: