Person of interest in fatal Fourth of July stabbing in Richmond found dead in Mexico

Richmond police have investigated five homicides since June 18.

RICHMOND — A man suspected in the fatal Fourth of July stabbing of a woman has been found dead in Mexico, while another that police sought in the shooting death of a man near the Richmond Parkway has been arrested in Nebraska, authorities said.

Edirlei Tofolio was a person of interest in the July 4 stabbing death of 48-year-old Elindenia Silva, of El Sobrante. Richmond police spokesperson Lt. Donald Patchin said he was found dead in Mexico on July 9.

He had no other details about Tofolio’s death.

Police arrested Arcenio Marquez late last month following the shooting death of Elizander Narvaez-Fernandez, 26, of Richmond on June 23, Patchin said. Nebraska State Police arrested him after spotting his vehicle with a license-plate reader, he said.

Authorities had put out a warrant for him, charging him with murder and assault with a semiautomatic gun, authorities said. He remained in custody Wednesday at the Martinez Detention Facility in lieu of $2.22 million bail, according to jail records.

Each charge carries with it special enhancements, according to charging documents filed by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.

The shooting also wounded another person who received treatment at a trauma center and survived the shooting.

According to a statement from Richmond police, detectives uncovered that Marquez and Narvaez-Fernandez knew each other and that the gunfire rang out after a fight broke out at a party being held at a complex in the 3400 block of Richmond Parkway.

Police identified Marquez as the suspect, as well as the vehicle he was driving. Patchin said Nebraska state officers found the vehicle in Ogallala, Neb., after a license-plate reader alerted them the vehicle was in the area.

Officers in Nebraska took Marquez into custody without incident, authorities said.

Police in Richmond have investigated nine homicides in 2024, one more than in all of 2023. The 2023 total was the lowest in the city’s history since record-keeping began in 1971.

Five of those killings have occurred since June 18. Police are still seeking to make arrests in three of them.