Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Police have arrested a man accused of fatally stabbing an 18-year-old woman on the Jordan Parkway last month.
Taylorsville police worked with the U.S. Marshalls Office and California law enforcement to track down 19-year-old Cristian Alzaga. He was arrested in Palm Springs on Friday.
Police say they believe Alzaga was the man who stabbed Heather Quast to death May 26 during a drug deal.
Quast and her friend, 21-year-old Eric Russom, were in a field off the Jordan Parkway at about 4100 South when they were both stabbed.
Relatives of Russom say they had arranged to meet three men who wanted to buy marijuana from them, but police say it turned into a robbery.
Russom told his family that one of the men pulled out a fake gun, and then another pulled out a knife. Quast was stabbed in the stomach, and Russom was stabbed in the face, near his eye. Quast died at the hospital.
Police say Alzaga will be extradited back to Salt Lake City to face felony first-degree homicide and aggravated robbery charges.
This is the second arrest in Quast's murder. Officers arrested 19-year-old Jose Jesus Neri on May 29. He is being charged as an accomplice in the murder.
Investigators are still looking for the third man involved, 21-year-old Cristain Garcia. They are also looking for the knife used in the murder, as well as Quast's purse and wallet.
Police say the purse is white with multiple peace symbols printed on it. The victim's pink wallet was inside the purse at the time of the stabbing.
Anyone with any information is asked to call 801-743-7000.
-----
