Father and son fought back during attack in Terra Ceia. Head injury didn’t kill suspect
The Arcadia man who attacked another man who was mowing the lawn of his Terra Ceia home, didn’t die from the head injury he received when the victim and his son fought back against him in self-defense, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
Rodolfo Cervantes-Lara may have been high on crystal methamphetamine and a prescription drug when he attacked the other man, detectives believe.
Shirtless and armed with a knife, Cervantes-Lara was wandering through the Terra Ceia neighborhood on Friday acting oddly and speaking incoherently before he stumbled into one home. When the homeowner told him to leave, Cervantes-Lara wandered into another neighbor’s yard, according to the sheriff’s office.
Cervantes-Lara attacked the 63-year-old victim while he was on his riding lawn mower, stabbing him several times. The victim’s son heard the commotion and rode over on another lawn mower, and knocked Cervantes-Lara over. Both men pinned Cervantes-Lara to the ground until deputies arrived.
Cervantes-Lara died in the victim’s yard, alongside the riding lawn mower, despite resuscitation efforts by paramedics.
An autopsy has revealed that Cervantes-Lara did not die from the head injury, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday. A medical examiner could not determine his cause of death, and investigators are now awaiting the results of toxicology tests.
Detectives found crystal meth and a prescription drug in Cervantes-Lara’s pocket, the sheriff’ office confirmed on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the victim remains hospitalized in stable condition. He is expected to recover from numerous stab wounds he suffered in the attack.
Cervantes-Lara had struggled with drug use for years, court records show. He was released from state prison last August after serving nearly 15 months on a 3-and-a-half-year sentence for multiple convictions out of DeSoto County that included possession of a controlled substance.
A previous stint in prison was for convictions that included possession of methamphetamine. In 2016, Cervantes-Lara failed to complete a substance abuse program he was ordered to complete as part of a pre-trial diversion program.
