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Last updated on Wednesday, January 14, 2015
(DALEVILLE) - Police are investigating a fatal stabbing in a parking lot at the DSE Trucking lot along State Road 67 in Daleville.
WTHR reports that 55-year-old Mark Hittson was killed and his wife Teresa was taken to a Muncie hospital with lacerations. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The stabbing happened after an argument in the parking lot of the trucking company.
"I pulled up to the fuel island, heard a woman screaming and I walked around my truck," said Robert Brancecum.
The truck driver says he saw the two men wrestling on the ground and a woman yelling for help.
"I called 911 and when I looked back up, the three were on the ground," Brancecum said.
Brancecum says he saw 47-year-old Juan Hernandez on top of Mark Hittson, beating him with his fists. The victim appeared to be unconscious.
He says Hernandez then "went back to his vehicle. I jumped out of my truck to try to tackle the guy or do something, you know, to help. But I saw him get a big knife out of the car, so that stopped me. I went back in the truck and let the dispatcher know he had a knife."
Brancecum says he desperately wanted to help Hittson, but when he saw the knife, he thought of his young children at home. There was only so much he could do.
"The suspect then went over to the victim as he was laying there, unconscious, repeatedly stabbed him around 20 times with the guy's wife laying next to him, screaming," Brancecum said. "So it was hard to see."
Police say a love triangle was a catalyst for the fight.
"We believe the wife of the victim was, at one point, having an affair with the suspect," said Daleville Police Chief James King.
King says Hittson and his wife lived in a motel room with Hernandez, an employee at DSE. Tuesday, they drove the suspect to work and, for some reason, the fight started.
"When we got out of the car, we got him at gunpoint. He got on the ground, obeyed every command we asked," King said. "Chesterfield Police Department then arrived to handcuff the suspect, but no resistance from him."
But now, the chief says Hernandez is not cooperating.
Police are now working to figure out exactly how a day that started with two men riding in the same car ended with one of them allegedly murdering the other.
Bolt Holdings, the parent company of DSE, released the following statement:
"We have no comment at this time other than we are fully cooperating with the authorities.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that has been impacted by today's events."
Indiana State Police are joining the Delaware County Sheriff's Department and other agencies in the investigation.
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