HOUSTON — WARNING: This story contains graphic details.
A homicide victim may have tried to use his Life Alert to call for help when he was stabbed repeatedly inside his northeast Houston apartment Wednesday afternoon, according to HPD.
HFD paramedics responded to the Life Alert notification at an apartment complex on Aldine Westfield Road near Jensen Drive around 4:10 p.m. They saw a man covered in blood running away and alerted HPD with a description.
The paramedics entered the apartment and found the body of a 61-year-old man who'd been stabbed 50 times all over his body. He was partially decapitated. HPD homicide detectives also found a warped frying pan and metal baseball bat near the victim's body.
Officers searched the area and arrested George Albert Saldivar, 34, about a mile away. He's charged with murder.
The victim's friends identified him as Rudy Delossantos. They called him Santos.
“He was a very nice man. He was a very best friend of mine," Juanita Tamez told us. "I used to come visit him here."
Pastor Broderick James conducts services at the Salvation Army chapel across the street from where Santos lived.
“Mr. Rudy was one of our favorites," James said. "He was a great guy, life of the party. He was just here the day before.”
James said Santos was a regular in the senior ministry.
“He was just here in Bible study last week testifying about the reason God left him here," James said. "He was here to help other people out of the situation he was in before."
An empty chair outside of Santos' apartment is where he often sat. Friends say they never saw him without his Life Alert pendant.
"He always had this thing hanging on his neck," a neighbor said.
Neighbors are baffled by their friend's violent death and the motive is unclear. We're told the suspect may have been living in the apartment upstairs.
“But one thing we can rest assured on is that Mr. Rudy had salvation," James said.
Saldivar remains jailed on a $1,000,000 bond. He previously served time for aggravated robbery and had recent arrests for DWI and felony in possession of a weapon.