Raul Alexander Cuevas (Ada County Sheriff’s Office)
A 31-year-old man in Idaho has been arrested after he allegedly killed a man who police had pegged as the main suspect in his mother’s murder — which occurred only the previous day — in a likely revenge killing. Raul Alexander Cuevas was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 39-year-old Jesus R. Urrutia.
The tragic case began with the fatal stabbing of Cuevas’ mother, 52-year-old Michelle E. Luna, Tuesday evening. At the time of the killings, both of the victims and Cuevas resided in the Nampa area, which is approximately 20 miles west of Boise.
According to a press release from the Nampa Police Department, officers and emergency medical services at around 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28 responded to a 911 call regarding the reported stabbing of an adult female at a residence located in the 2100 block of W. Grouse Street.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders say they located the victim inside the home who appeared to have sustained “several stab wounds to her body.” Medics attempted life-saving measures on the victim, but she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene.
The victim was identified as Luna, who was the resident of the home, and investigators were quickly able to identify Urrutia as the prime suspect in her slaying. Authorities say that Urrutia “was known to” Luna, and multiple law enforcement agencies were alerted in an effort to locate him that evening.
However, Nampa PD at approximately 7:03 a.m. responded to a call from a dispatcher at the Ada County Sheriff’s Office regarding another stabbing victim — this time an adult male — believed to be Urrutia, ACSO said in a press release.
Officers arrived at the crime scene — the parking lot of an Avimor gas station located more than 25 miles away from Nampa — and found Urrutia inside a vehicle in the lot.
Police say Urrutia was “slumped over in the car, which was running but in park.” First responders removed Urrutia from the vehicle and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Medics transported Urrutia to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wound and was pronounced dead slightly after 8 a.m., per the release.
The Ada County Coroner’s Office determined that Urrutia’s death was a homicide caused by a “sharp force injury wound to the chest,” authorities said.
Later that day, ACSO deputies located Cuevas — the prime suspect in Urrutia’s death — at a gas station about 20 miles south of where Urrutia was stabbed. Deputies collected evidence from Cuevas and his car before placing him under arrest and transporting him to the Ada County Jail.
Despite Urrutia being suspected of killing Cuevas’s mother, investigators claim they are “still figuring out why Cuevas fatally stabbed Urrutia.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
