A man accused of fatally stabbing a housemate in Carlsbad after a dispute over loud music pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday and had his trial set for Feb. 9.
David Diaz, 32, is charged with murder in the Aug. 7 death of 23-year- old Asher Freeman.
Freeman, who rented a room from Diaz’s family, was stabbed several times in the head and neck.
A neighbor testified earlier this year that she heard a man’s voice — not Diaz — demanding that the volume be turned down on music playing in the backyard.
Later that evening, the neighbor said she saw Diaz dancing around a fire in a bucket and making goat noises.
Defense attorney Matt Roberts told a judge that Diaz was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 18.
The defendant — who called 911 after Freeman was stabbed — initially told officers that the victim had been shot by two men in a drug deal gone bad. Diaz told police that one of the intruders swung at knife at him before fleeing.
—City News Service