A 44-year-old Oxnard man is dead after he was found stabbed inside a home on the 500 block of Lawnwood Way early Sunday morning, in a case police are investigating as the city's second homicide of 2026. Alejandro Ornelas was rushed to a hospital but did not survive his injuries, and as of Sunday morning, no arrests had been made.
Oxnard Police Department officers were called to the scene around 12:30 a.m., according to a report from Yahoo News, after someone reported a stabbing victim at the residence. Officers arrived to find Ornelas, an Oxnard resident, suffering from stab wounds inside the home, as reported by KTLA. Paramedics transported him to Ventura County Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.
Major Crimes Unit Takes Over, No Suspect Named
The department's major crimes unit responded to handle the investigation, and a Yahoo/Ventura County Star report stated that no arrests had been made as of 9 a.m. Sunday. A news release from the city police department listed the suspect simply as unknown, offering no further detail on who may have carried out the attack or why.
Police have not released information about the weapon, a possible motive, or the relationship between Ornelas and whoever was in the home at the time. Those details remain part of the ongoing investigation, and per the same account, detectives have not said whether they have identified any persons of interest.
Tip Line Open as Investigation Continues
Anyone with information about the stabbing is asked to contact Officer Robert Valenzuela at 805-385-8286 or [email protected]. The city of Oxnard also offers a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for a homicide within city limits.
That reward program has been used before. In a prior Oxnard knife case, city officials offered the same $25,000 incentive after a fatal stabbing on Wilson Avenue on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The case also included a public appeal for tips.
Ornelas's death marks Oxnard's second homicide of 2026, a tally confirmed in the same Yahoo News report. The case remains open, with detectives continuing to piece together what happened inside the Lawnwood Way home before officers arrived.
