Diamond Bar Man Held in Fatal Stabbing at Brea Mall

A Diamond Bar man was arrested early Friday after allegedly stabbing his former girlfriend to death in the Brea Mall parking lot.

Brea police said Daniel Aguba, 31, stalked the woman, Fatima Bumatay, 22, at the mall, then stabbed her 13 times after she strapped their 1-year-old son into his car seat.

Aguba was being held at Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder, with bail set at $1 million.

The stabbing occurred about 9 p.m. Thursday in the southeast corner of the mall’s parking lot near State College Boulevard and Imperial Highway after Bumatay had shopped for a dress to wear to a wedding, police said.

“They got into an argument and he stabbed her inside the car with their child in the back seat,” said Sgt. Jack Conklin.

Aguba stabbed her repeatedly with an 8-inch knife, Conklin said.

He then dragged the woman out of the car and onto the pavement, where he left her unconscious and drove away in his car.

Alerted by a caller, police later found the knife in Bumatay’s car along with the baby, still in his car seat, Conklin said.

Bumatay was taken to St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, where she died.

The child was taken to Orangewood Children’s Home in Orange.

Police found Aguba about 3 a.m. Friday, sleeping in his car parked in a commercial complex near Golden Springs Drive and Prospectors Road in Diamond Bar, Conklin said.

He was arrested without incident.

The pair also has a 3-year-old son, who was with Bumatay’s mother at the time of the stabbing, police said.

Aguba has a history of domestic violence and started stalking the woman after she began dating another man, police said.