A Miami Beach man has been charged with stabbing his 28-year-old co-worker to death outside her home. Miami Beach Police say she rejected his romantic advances, which angered him, killing her.
Augustin Lucas Mariani, 20, faces second-degree murder charges for fatally stabbing Delfina Pan. Pan, originally from Argentina, moved to the United States two years ago.
Earlier this week, Mariani “arrived at the victim’s apartment, uninvited, and waited for the victim.” When Pan came home, Mariani asked to speak with her in her apartment, but she refused to let him in. He became so angry that he began to stab her with a knife he reportedly took from the restaurant he worked at.
According to a neighbor who witnessed the attack, he took his shirt off and stabbed himself in the chest. He was found lying on Pan outside her apartment. They were both taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Pan was pronounced dead. Mariani is expected to recover.
The two worked together at Kansas Bar & Grill; it’s not known what positions either of them worked. Co-workers and friends told police that Mariani had been obsessed with Pan for months. One co-worker told Today in 24 that she had several strange encounters with Mariani, and she feared him.
“He worked with us,” Pan’s friend told the outlet. “A super strange boy, and nobody knew anything about his life. He went to work and did not say hello to anyone.”
Mariani invoked his right to remain silent and refused to cooperate with the police before being charged. The Miami Herald reports that he was picked out of a lineup by one of Pan’s neighbors.
