A crime scene that spanned several blocks, during one of the busiest nights of the year, forced Melbourne police to double, even triple check for clues, as to who killed a man during a downtown Halloween celebration.
Melbourne Police say 30 year old Reginald Garoute of Palm Bay was stabbed to death early Saturday morning.
It happened around 2:15 a.m. Saturday along East New Haven Avenue, also known as US-192, near U.S. 1.
From the air and from land, Melbourne police combed through the section of downtown Melbourne Saturday.
Hours earlier investigators laid out makers for the trial of blood left behind on East New Haven Avenue.
Just as the bars were letting out, after a night of Halloween celebrations, some kind of altercation occurred on the sidewalk between two restaurants.
Police say Garoute was stabbed in the upper body, then headed east, on foot.
He got about 100 yards before he collapsed in this field next to an SUV.
First responders say they tried to revive the man, but he had lost too much blood, Garoute was taken to a hospital where he died. Now the search is on for his killer.
“The area where we suspect this happened at is an area where crowds gather after closing time because there’s a pizzeria that people congregate, they get a few slices of pizza and end their night. So we’re hoping there are some witnesses that maybe saw a disturbance of some kind, but didn’t think much of it at the time,” said Sgt. Shawn Eising, Melbourne Police Department.
Anyone who may have seen something is asked to call Melbourne police or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.