San Jose police are investigating the city's fourth homicide of 2014 after a San Jose State student was stabbed to death early Sunday morning in the East Foothills while trying to break up a fight at his girlfriend's 21st birthday party.
Friends identified the victim as 22-year-old Richard Phan, who they said was student at San Jose State.
"He is a very nice guy," Phan's uncle, Paul Pham said. "Hard-working guy, goes to school."
Officers said they responded to a report of a person wounded in the 3400 block of Suncrest Avenue near Colonial Lane at around 1:24 a.m. There was a party at that house for Phan's girlfriend who was turning 21. Guests told NBC Bay Area there was some sort of fight at the party and 20 to 30 people moved to the front of the house, where the argument was escalating.
That's when Phan got involved. He asked the trouble makers to leave.
"He tried to be the peace maker," Paul Pham said. "He tried to break up the fight and somehow he got stabbed."
Police said upon their arrival, they found a man in his early 20s suffering from at least one stab wound. The victim later died at the hospital just after 2 a.m.
No suspects have been identified at this time. But Paul Phan said that only close friends were invited to the party, so it's likely the person who stabbed Richard Phan is familiar to them.
