At 11 p.m. Wednesday night, bleeding out behind a gas station is probably not what Timothy Simpson thought he'd find himself doing when earlier he visited a woman he'd been sleeping with behind her boyfriend's back.
Mesa Police found Simpson with several stab wounds in his stomach, saying he'd been knifed by a man wearing a black shirt and jeans. Emergency responders treated him on the scene near Country Club Drive and McKellips Road in Mesa, and later transported him to a hospital, where he died.
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Police also found Martin Davis with three stab wounds -- to his bicep, shin and ribs -- that he received after accepting an invitation from his neighbor, Chantell Ramirez, to come inside her apartment for a beer.
Ramirez and Martin had been drinking in the apartment when Simpson walked in, according to the police report. Right behind him was the boyfriend, Stephen Escalante, dressed in a black shirt. Martin says Escalante stabbed him and Simpson each three times. The two victims fled the home.
When police arrived, Escalante, 25, refused to leave the apartment. An officer fired a bean bag out of a shotgun at Escalante, records state. He soon followed his girlfriend outside.
Ramirez told different stories at the police station, admitting that she was drunk and had blacked out at the apartment. Eventually she said Escalante stabbed the two men because he thought they were taking advantage of her. She also admits to sleeping with Simpson, the man who died, two months prior and to seeing him earlier that day.
Escalante, after being read his rights, told cops that he when he walked into the apartment, he saw his girlfriend lying on a mattress on the floor and asking for help. He saw a bright light and filled with rage. When officers confronted him with the stabbing, Escalante replied, "I'm not telling you it's justified, but that's my house."
Police charged Escalante with second degree murder and aggravated assault.
