The west-side dad who was fatally stabbed while walking his son home from school last week punched his assailant in the face before the stabbing, according to a statement from the suspect’s lawyer.
Deputy Public Defender Seth Meisels, who is representing Daniel Patrick Rodriguez Jr., said the victim “punched Mr. Rodriguez with enough force to knock out two of his teeth, and the interaction escalated from there” after the two men “knocked shoulders” while crossing the street.
Meisels said Rodriguez, 42, is suffering from a liver autoimmune disease and stage 3 lymphoma, a type of cancer.
According to reporting from ABC7, Rodriguez’s lawyers want him moved to a hospital.
“Mr. Rodriguez is greatly saddened that a child was a witness to this,” Meisels’ statement continues. “What happened was a tragedy.”
Rodriguez was arrested Friday in Tuolumne County after a citywide manhunt and statewide alert. He is being held without bail.
He was arraigned Tuesday on charges of murder and child endangerment.
Officers responded Wednesday to the stabbing at 4:38 p.m. near the intersection of Junipero Serra Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, across the street from Commodore Sloat Elementary School.
Taraval Police Station Captain Clayton Harmston said the victim and suspect did not know each other, but an altercation took place between them. Bystanders tried to intervene, but Rodriguez stabbed the victim and fled. “This was a random act,” Harmston said.
The victim, Robert Paul Byrd II, 35, died from his injuries at a hospital.
Byrd, who worked part time at San Francisco General Hospital, was devoted to his 8-year-old son, according to his father, Robert Byrd.
“I’m just here thinking and hurting over my baby, my son,” Robert Byrd said through tears. “He was an upstanding citizen. He was a good father to his son. He was a good son to me. He was my wife’s sidekick.”
He did not know of any connection between his son and the suspect.
“May God punish the man who did this to my son,” he said.
Byrd could not be reached for comment Thursday.
“His greatest love was his son, who was holding his hand in the moments before this tragedy occurred,” says a GoFundMe campaign for the family.