Cab driver stabbing suspect arrested for mother's murder

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Springfield police say that a man who stabbed a cab driver and led them on a chase through the city had killed his mother earlier in the evening.

Police Sgt. John Delaney told 22News that Luis Rosa, 41, of Springfield, is charged with the murder of Norma Perez, who was found dead in her Saab Court apartment before 5:00 Sunday night.

Police had been called to 17 Saab Court to check on Perez. Delaney says that when officers arrived, they found that relatives had forced open the door, and found the 57 year-old woman dead on the floor. Further investigation led police to believe that the death was a homicide.

Rosa was arrested in the early morning hours Monday, after he allegedly took a cab to the Allen Park Apartments. Delaney says that once there, he stabbed the driver with a butcher knife and stole the cab. After the driver ran away, Rosa allegedly drove the cab across the city, and after being pursued by police, crashed into two cars and flipped over on State Street.

The driver of the cab is expected to survive.

Perez’s murder is the first homicide in the City of Springfield in 2013. Delaney says that the motive for the murder appears to be a robbery from the victim’s apartment.

Rosa was ordered held without the right to bail during his arraignment Monday afternoon at Springfield District Court.