Gainesville Police Officers Allow Attempted Matricide Suspect to Voluntarily Drive to Police Station

On April 22, Manny Garcia Alcantara, 54, was arrested and charged with premeditated attempted murder of the first degree after stabbing his elderly mother several times in the chest and once in the back.

According to the arrest report, Alcantara committed the crime at 1:30 pm and pressed his mother’s life alert button before leaving the residence. 

Roughly 30 minutes later, Gainesville Fire and Rescue responded to the victim's residence to find her lying in a hallway and she was transported to UF Health with life-threatening injuries.

Patrol officers from the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) found a knife in a nearby bedroom where the victim was lying. They additionally found Alcantara's vehicle in the driveway, with the victim’s vehicle gone. He was located roughly three to four hours later, driving his mother’s car near his residence at Cottage Grove Apartments.  

A traffic stop was conducted on Alcantara, and instead of being immediately arrested for attempted murder, he was permitted to voluntarily turn himself in to the police station.

His arrest location is listed as the address of GPD headquarters (545 NW 8th Ave), indicating that he was not detained during the traffic stop and transported himself to the police station.

During his police interview, Alcantara told officers that he tried to kill his mother because she wouldn’t buy him a new car, detailing that after committing the crime, he smoked crack and planned to go to casinos in Tampa using his mother’s vehicle. 

The victim’s emergency contact told officers that Alcantara has a history of mental health problems. He said that Alcantara would frequently go to the victim when under financial strain. 

Incidents between Alcantara and his mother reportedly date back to 2019, with there being one instance where he stabbed himself in the stomach. 

Alcantara will be held in jail as his trial is ongoing.