One Elkhart, Ind., man is dead and another one is facing charges in a homicide that happened Jan. 11 at a plastics manufacturing site in Cass County, Mich., police said.
Jan Carlos Velazques Mendez, 24, died from a stab wound to the neck following a fight with a fellow worker at Ameri-Kart Corp. in Mason Township.
Police were called to the scene at 5:26 a.m.
“When deputies and ambulances were enroute it was discovered that one of the employees had stabbed the other with a knife,” according to a Cass County Sheriff's Office report. “The suspect in the case was detained by other employees who witnessed the incident.”
Emergency responders were not able to revive Mendez, who was pronounced dead at the scene, the report said.
“Preliminary investigation shows that the subjects involved were working together at the plant. The subjects were on a break when for an unknown reason a fight ensued. Witnesses report that they thought it was a fist fight until they saw the victim bleeding from the neck area and realized the suspect had a knife,” the report states.
“The victim left the break area to get away from the suspect. The suspect went into another area of the business where he was detained by other employees until deputies arrived,” the report continued.
The suspect, who is 23, is being held at the Cass County Jail awaiting charges, police said.
Ameri-Kart is a rotational molder and thermoformer serving the marine, recreational vehicle and custom markets. The company is a unit of Myers Industries Inc.
Ameri-Kart, which is based in Bristol, Ind., is the eighth-largest rotational molder in the North America, according to a Plastics News ranking.