UPDATE: Victim and suspect in bizarre Monterey stabbing were a couple

UPDATE 10:39pm: Strange details surrounding the murder of a Monterey woman continue to unfold. Witnesses describe an odd scene when police showed up Wednesday to look for the suspect in New Monterey’s Lighthouse District. Police said the suspect jumped off a single-story building and landed on the sidewalk, as he tried to get away from the crime scene just a couple of blocks away.

Pictures from Facebook show 50-year-old Tara deSousa and 44-year-old Matthew Huntington in a romantic relationship. Monterey police said the two were dating before she was found stabbed to death at her home on Laine Street. Officers immediately began searching for Huntington until one local bar owner saw a dramatic twist during the chase.

“Saw the cab pull over then I looked one more time ’cause I figured he hit the trash can and then I saw the body lying there and that’s when I bee-lined across the street and I went over and I checked his pulse and made sure he was OK. He was pretty messed up and stuff,” said Sal Carbone.

Carbone said he didn’t realize there was more to the story and called over to police who were nearby searching for Huntington. That’s when he said he had an intense interaction with an officer.

“He parked his car. He was probably about 20 feet away from me and said hey get away from him. And I said I just want to make sure he doesn’t die and he said, I said get away from him right now,” Carbone said.

Carbone took pictures with his cell phone of Huntington lying on the ground, as officers arrested him and took him to the hospital. Carbone said initially he thought a cab driver may have hit Huntington, but another woman waiting for a bus was what happened.

“I said, did that car just hit him? And she looked in the air and said he just jumped off that roof,” Carbone said.

NewsChannel 5 looked at court records and found Huntington filed a temporary restraining order against deSousa twice last year. Police said Huntington was taken to Natividad Hospital and is in critical condition.

3:45pm: Police have now identified the two people involved in a bizarre fatal stabbing in Monterey Wednesday night. Monterey Police said the suspect, 44-year-old Matthew Huntington, eventually fell off the roof of Oya Inc. hair salon after stabbing a woman he was dating. Police said the victim was 50-year-old Tara de Sousa.

9:49am: Late Wednesday night Monterey officers responded to a report of a stabbing in the 200 Block of Laine Street. It happened at 10:21pm and the initial report indicated the woman was stabbed by a man she knew at a home. Officers located a woman suffering from multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect had fled the scene before officers arrived.

Shortly after, the suspect was found just blocks away near the intersection of Lighthouse and Reeside. Police said the suspect was unconscious and had significant injuries resulting from a fall from the rooftop of Oya Inc. hair salon.

The suspect was transported to Natividad Medical Center and is in critical condition.
Police are not releasing his identity or the victim’s name at this time.

Anyone with information can call the Investigations Division at 831-646-3809 or the confidential tip line at 831-646-3840.