79-Year-Old Haines City Man Had Multiple Heart Attacks Following Severe Stabbing: Sheriff

HAINES CITY, FL — A 32-year-old man faces first-degree murder charges after police said he killed a man with a knife outside a medical center in Haines City on Friday afternoon.

Christopher Lynn King of Madison, Florida, has also been charged with armed robbery, aggravated battery of victim 65 or over, carrying a concealed weapon, grand theft auto, fleeing to elude, driving without a valid license, resisting arrest with and without violence, wearing a mask in the commission of a felony and battery on a law enforcement officer, along with traffic citations.

Manuel Goita, 79, died Sunday about 1 p.m. from the stab wounds, a news release said.

Madison wore a ski mask when he stabbed Goita in the stomach at a parking lot on Patterson Grove Road about 1:30 p.m. Friday, deputies said.

King then took Goita's car keys and drove in the victim's 2003 blue Toyota Matrix north on U.S. Highway 27. Deputies later found the Matrix near Posner Park off U.S. 27 in unincorporated Davenport. A police chase then occurred, and deputies from the Polk County Sheriff's Office helped stop the Matrix with a pursuit intervention technique, deputies said.

King ran from the car after it stopped near FDC Grove Road, and deputies quickly apprehended him, according to officers.

Goita was flown to a local hospital, where he suffered multiple heart attacks from his injuries, and doctors performed multiple surgeries. Medical staff pronounced him dead Sunday afternoon.

"We mourn with the victim's family for this senseless murder," Haines City Police Chief Jim Elensky said. "We will work to provide the strongest case possible in collaboration with the State Attorney's Office to prosecute this killer to the fullest extent of the law."