HANFORD, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — Family members have identified the 17-year-old boy killed in a stabbing outside the Hanford Mall on Saturday night as Lorenzo Sanchez.
The Hanford Police Department says a 15-year-old suspect, who has not been identified, is booked in the Kings County Juvenile Center on a single charge of murder.
Sanchez was going into his senior year at Corcoran High School, and loved ones say he had dreams of playing football at Fresno State. Family and friends gathered outside Corcoran High Sunday for a vigil in Sanchez’s memory.
The stabbing happened around 5:30 p.m. Saturday outside the Kohl’s department store at the Hanford Mall on Lacey Boulevard near 12th Avenue.
Investigators say Sanchez got into an argument with five other teenagers at the mall, which then led to the stabbing.
Detectives say surveillance video captured Sanchez being stabbed once in the neck from behind. Medical aid was provided to him, but he died at the scene.
Sanchez’s mother was inside the mall at the time of the attack and found her son just feet away from the Kohl’s entrance after the stabbing.
Police detained the group of teenagers later Saturday night and were able to identify the suspect in the group.
Investigators say multiple items were found on the suspect, which allegedly connect him to the homicide.
The exact motive for the stabbing remains unclear.
