Predawn ‘eyeball’ among textmates turns deadly

A man was stabbed dead while his companion was wounded in an attack that disrupted their “eyeball” or face-to-face meeting with their “textmates” in Quezon City before dawn Wednesday.

The Quezon City police identified the victim only by his alias, “Kyeme,” and his companion as 22-year-old Steve Paul who received treatment at Quezon City General Hospital for a cut in the right hand.

Senior Police Officer 1 Eric Lazo said the incident happened around 4:30 a.m. in front of City Bus terminal on Quirino Highway, Barangay (village) Sta. Monica in Novaliches, where “Kyeme,” Paul, and Annaliza Perez, who was also a member of their “text clan” or circle of friends, agreed to meet.

Citing Perez’s account of the incident, Lazo said the three of them were talking when a group of about six men approached.

One of the men then pulled out a six-inch kitchen knife and stabbed Kyeme several times for no apparent reason. Paul tried to stop the attacker but also ended up wounded.

The attacker and his companions fled on foot after the assault, leaving the knife behind.

Investigators said Kyeme died instantly from multiple stab wounds in the body. He was described to be between 35 and 40 years old, 5’5” in height, of medium build, and wearing a blue shirt and black pants.

Paul and Perez could not provide Kyeme’s real name to the police as members of a text clan usually use aliases when making friends on the phone.

It was also not immediately clear why the three textmates agreed to hold their eyeball that early in the morning.