Oct 12, 2008 12:56 pm US/Central
Plano Teen Stabbed In Overnight Fight
PLANO (CBS 11 News) ―
Ongoing threats over a love affair lead to a deadly confrontation. A Plano High School senior was fatally stabbed in the parking lot of a shopping center early Sunday morning. The victim's parents say the murder suspect had threatened their family before.
Max Brustein and some of his friends were apparently chased to the parking lot. Max died after he was stabbed by the man chasing them. The victim and suspect knew each other, and Brustein's family says 19-year-old Joshua Torres had phoned them with death threats.
Ron Brustein, Max's father, is still in shock. "It's not real, it's just not real; one minute he's here and the next minute he's not coming back."
To lose their some at the hands of someone they say had threatened the family is too much for the Brustein family to bear. Joshua Torres reportedly dates a girl who broke up with Brustein last may. Torres reportedly sent him a cell phone warning when Max contacted her again.
Transcripts from the call have been cleaned up "I'll --- kill you. I'll slit your --- throat. Okay? If this is not even ---- joking, 'Ill --- come to your house, I'll kill your ---- family. Give me a --- hour. I'll find out where your parents live, I'll find out what the --- they do. I'll --- kill you, ---."
Ron Brustein and Torres' attorney agree that Max and some friends threw cans and a pumpkin at the girlfriend's house, leading to the chase and confrontation.
But Torres' attorney says that Brustein had been stalking and threatening the girlfriend, and when the chase ended it was Brustein's friends who jumped Torres, that Torres lashed out in self defense.
Plano Police confirm it was Torres who took Brustein to the hospital. Investigators say they are not able to say what role the previous phone call will play in the investigation.
Brustein's funeral will be held Monday at 3:00 p.m. at Shearteh Israel Temple in Dallas.
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