Irlas found guilty in stabbing case
Published 6:01 pm Friday, September 25, 2015
One of three men charged during a burglary and stabbing incident in December 2014 was found guilty Friday afternoon, while a second was found not guilty.
Irlas
Daniel Irlas, 32, was convicted of stabbing a 51-year-old man in the 1000 block of Fifth Street Northeast on Dec. 26, 2014. He was found guilty on charges including one count of first-degree burglary and two counts of felony assault.
Willie James Britten III was found not guilty on two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of second-degree assault. A third suspect, Ernesto Angel Salinas, 33, of Austin, plead guilty of second-degree assault and first-degree burglary on March 2, 2015, and was sentenced to 67 months in prison and $85 in fines on April 17.
According to the court complaint, the victim stepped in to a fight Irlas had with his girlfriend in the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 2014, at a friend’s house because the victim didn’t like Irlas getting physical with a woman. Irlas later told police he went to the home to collect $400 from the friend, and took a dog and a small lock box as payment.
The complaint also stated Irlas stole an iPod and a speaker and punched the victim.
Irlas allegedly then went to the home where the victim was at about 4:45 a.m. on the 26th. When the victim answered the door, Irlas and two unidentified men assaulted and stabbed him, according to two witnesses at the home who went to get help.
Police saw Irlas leaving the scene in a dark-colored SUV as they responded to the stabbing call. Witnesses told police they believed Irlas’s companions were Hispanic, with one tall person, and another, shorter person wearing glasses which police later determined was Salinas. According to the complaint, Salinas’ mother, after talking to detectives, alleged the third suspect was Britten and claimed he was with Irlas and Salinas at the time of the assault.
The victim suffered a broken nose, two stab wounds to the torso — including one that pierced his diaphragm — and a contusion on his left ear.
Irlas’s sentencing date is scheduled for Nov. 12, 2015.
