Glendale police arrest suspect in deadly liquor store double stabbing
GLENDALE, Ariz. - A 41-year-old man was arrested in connection with a deadly stabbing at a home over the weekend.
What we know:
Glendale police responded to a stabbing at a home near Bethany Home Road and 59th Avenue just after midnight on Sept. 19.
At the scene, a victim was found "bleeding heavily," with "blood all over his belly and pants" after being slashed across the chest, according to court documents. The man, identified as 51-year-old Concepcion Palma Meza, was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.
Witnesses told officers that there was an argument over a beer and cigarettes taken from him at the liquor store between five men that erupted into a fight. Video footage from the scene showed a primary suspect, identified as 41-year-old Joseph Daniel Deltoro, walking with a knife and stabbing two victims— Palma Meza, and a second 41-year-old male victim, during the argument. The man is seen talking with the unnamed victim before leaving, then coming back with the knife.
When Deltoro walked away, he called his brother, claiming people were trying to fight him. The brother returned with him and another man to confront the victims while holding a folded-out knife. Two men with Deltoro tried to punch the second victim. Deltoro claimed one of the victims splashed alcohol in his face and pushed him, prompting Deltoro to stab that victim in the back because he was angry.
Video footage showed Deltoro stabbing the first victim in the back as he ran away, then stabbing Palma Meza across the chest as he stood nearby watching. "Palma Meza was not in a fighting stance when stabbed," officials said.
He then fled the area one way, as the two other men fled in the opposite direction.
Dig deeper:
"Jail photographs from a Sept. 9, 2024, arrest by the Glendale Police Department for disorderly conduct showed tattoos matching the one on the suspect's upper right arm in the surveillance video. Research showed Deltoro was associated with an address…in Glendale, located several streets north of the incident, where family members resided and where police had previous contacts, including April 2025," court documents said.
Detectives found and interviewed the second victim at a Phoenix hospital, where he identified Deltoro as the suspect through a picture lineup. He said he knew the deceased victim, Palma Meza, from the neighborhood and had been standing with him in front of a store when Deltoro approached. The victim said he recognized Deltoro from previous encounters, and said an argument began after he said something in Spanish that may have offended Deltoro.
What they're saying:
"His actions indicate that he's a danger to the community. The violence where he stabbed two different victims, one of them he stabbed in the back literally as the victim was running away from him the other one he stabbed in the chest. That one passed away a short time later," a prosecutor said in his court appearance.
The Arrest:
The suspect was found at an apartment and was taken into custody. Deltoro's brother, was taken into custody during a traffic stop shortly after leaving in a car. Deltoro claimed self-defense, but investigators said there was no need for a knife to be used, as neither victim "was actively trying to fight him."
Map of where the stabbing occurred.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from court documents; the Glendale Police Department; a prosecutor; and an unnamed second victim interviewed at a Phoenix hospital.