Ocala man charged with attempted murder after ambushing, stabbing deputy: ‘Should have killed you’

DUNNELLON, Fla. (WCJB) - A man faces attempted murder charges after authorities say he ambushed and stabbed a Marion County Sheriff’s deputy in Dunnellon.

On Wednesday, Heriberto Medina Marquez was arrested on the charge of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after attacking Deputy Robert Fitch.

Authorities say the deputy responded to a neighborhood on Northwest 10th Place in reference to a suspicious person.

As he exited his patrol vehicle, authorities say Medina Marquez ambushed Deputy Fitch, knocking him to the ground. Medina Marquez climbed on top of the deputy and stabbed him multiple times in the chest. He then ran off into the woods.

When another deputy arrived on the scene, Medina Marquez came out of the woods and was taken into custody.

“I should have killed you, you know that right,” Medina Marquez reportedly told deputies while in the patrol vehicle.

Deputy Fitch suffered minor injuries from the attack. Sheriff’s Office officials credit Fitch’s bulletproof vest for saving his life.

Travis Young, the man who made the original 911 call, says that before deputies arrived, Marquez was yelling profanities and acting in a way that was scaring people in the area. Young says he watched the attack happen from his home.

“What was going through my mind was I can’t believe he’s doing that, and is the officer ok?” Young told TV20.

“I’ve known him his whole life, I grew up with him, I went to elementary school with him, middle school, high school, at some point during high school, something just kind of went awry inside of him, and it wasn’t the same person that he was,” Young recounted.

Marquez has four other felony court cases with Marion County from 2009 to 2021, including resisting violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, harm to a public official, and grand theft.

Medina Marquez was booked into the Marion County Jail on charges of attempted murder, providing a false ID, and resisting an officer. He is being held on no bond.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.