Man arrested for stabbing roommate

Staff report

Updated on March 2 with pre-trial detention information.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Eduardo Machado-Cabrera, 74, was arrested yesterday for allegedly stabbing his roommate with a kitchen knife.

At about 6:02 p.m. on February 17, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to an apartment at Campus Walk Apartments (914 SW 8th Avenue) and found the victim with a puncture wound on his stomach.

The victim said Machado-Cabrera had a guest in his room, they were talking loudly, and he told Machado-Cabrera to “turn it down or close the door.” Machado-Cabrera reportedly said he would not close his door and then got up, went to the kitchen, and returned with his hand behind his back. Machado-Cabrera allegedly “poked” the victim with the knife, which the victim described as a kitchen knife with a blue handle. The victim said that after he was stabbed, a witness pulled him into his room, closed the door, and called 911.

An officer reported that the knife was found in the kitchen.

The witness reportedly said she saw Machado-Cabrera stab the victim, and she pulled the victim into his room, closed the door, and called 911.

Post Miranda, Machado-Cabrera reportedly declined to make a statement.

Machado-Cabrera has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He has seven felony convictions (three violent) and four misdemeanor convictions (one violent) and is a designated Career Offender. He served a 20-year state prison sentence for second-degree homicide out of Miami-Dade County and was released in 2018. Judge Meshon Rawls ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial. On March 2, Judge Robert Groeb granted the motion and ordered him held without bail until trial.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.