MERIDEN, Conn. -- Wearing a hospital gown and neck brace, a 48-year-old Meriden man answered to murder charges in court on Monday.
Jose Alvarado is accused in the stabbing death of Seven Hawks Galler, 27. Police said Galler was stabbed several times at an apartment on North Third Street on Friday night.
Police said they believe Galler was stabbed in the midst of a fight that broke out during a party at the apartment.
Police said they found Alvarado bleeding from a head wound on a stairway of the building. He was treated at Hartford Hospital and brought to the police station.
In court on Monday, Alvarado claimed self-defense.
Gasusquah McManus, who lives in one of the building's apartments and is Geller's brother, told police that Alvarado is his mother's boyfriend. He said a fight began when Alvarado started grabbing his mother and was told he couldn't have any more beer.
According to court documents, McManus said, "They were having problems with his mother's boyfriend, Jose Alvarado and that when they tried to get Jose to leave … Jose stabbed Seven Hawks several times."
Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Susan Raff reported that Alvarado was on probation for possession of marijuana at the time of the stabbing.
Outside Meriden Superior Court on Monday, Ann McManus told Eyewitness News what happened to her son in the last few moments of his life.
"He tried to run. I took his shoulder and said, 'You don't look good.' He collapsed at my neighbor's door. I screamed. I saw blood and I knew," she said.
A judge kept Alvarado's bond set at $1 million.
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