Two LB Men Charged with Fatal Stabbing

Editor's Note: Patch received this press release Tuesday. The suspects were arrested five days ago and they were charged a day ago with murder. The Police Department said its custom is to wait to release arrest information until after charges are filed.

On October 11, 2011, at approximately 8:05 a.m., Long Beach Police responded to a "shots fired" call in the 400 block of West Anaheim Street.  Once officers arrived, they found 34-year-old Antwan Johnson of Rancho Cucamonga, who had been stabbed.  Victim Johnson was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased two days later, on October 13, 2011, as a result of injuries sustained in the attack.

Based on the preliminary investigation, Victim Johnson was walking down the street with a female companion when he was confronted by a three male Hispanic subjects in their 20's who proceeded to assault him.  During the attack, he was stabbed with an unknown object before the suspects fled on foot.

Homicide detectives diligently worked the case attempting to identify the attackers. Through their investigation, detectives learned that the suspects were local gang members and subsequently identified two of the three as follows:

Name:                         Age:                City of Residence:

Michael Contreras      23                    Long Beach

Guillermo Parra          21                    Long Beach

Both suspects were arrested at their Long Beach residences on Thursday, November 3, 2011, during the execution of search warrants. The third suspect remains outstanding.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged both suspects with the murder of Antwan Johnson.  Both are being held on $1,000,000 bail at the Los Angeles County Jail.

Detectives do not believe that Victim Johnson was a gang-member; however, they are investigating this as a gang-related incident and the investigation remains ongoing.  Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Hugo Cortes and Peter Lackovic at (562) 570-7244.