At 8:00 A.M. Sunday morning, 24-year-old Kenia Alvarez-Flores was attacked in front of her house on Sioux City’s west side by an acquaintance, Melissa Camargo-Flores, 20, of Dakota City.

Camargo-Flores had posted herself outside the home of Alvarez-Flores, waiting for her to leave for work. As Alvarez-Flores was entering her car, she was approached by the suspect and stabbed multiple times.

The victim was taken to Mercy Medical Center where she was treated. However, Alvarez-Flores had fatally succumbed to the injuries later on.

A witness to the initial attack said that the scene was heated, with multiple parties watching.

“A woman, she was talking on her cell phone, and then I noticed that the police showed up, and but I heard some yelling before that. And then I heard, ‘Oh my God!'” said a witness who wished to not have his name disclosed.

The suspect, Camargo-Flores, was taken into custody without incident after being treated with a self-inflicted stab wound. She is currently booked into Woodbury County Jail under a charge of first degree murder. This meaning that her attack on Alvarez-Flores was premeditated, willful and she intended to kill when going to the victim’s house.

Sioux City Police say that the public should be safe because there were on-going issues between the two women.

“At this point, we’re not going to get into specifics about what the issues are that they have had on-going to protect the integrity of the case,” said detective Nick Thompson with SCPD.

However, court documents say that Camargo-Flores reported admitted that she was involved with the boyfriend of the victim, which could be a potential motive to the murder.

Chief of police Rex Mueller says that the average number of homicides in Sioux City is two per year. Four months into 2018, the city is up to four.

“Violent crime is certainly something you cannot be proactive about and protect,” said Mueller. “Does this indicate any kind of trends to us? No.”

As of right now, the murder is still under police investigation.