Argument leads to Whitehall Twp. man stabbing, killing his father with a pocketknife | Allentown Area

WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. – First responders rushed to the home on the 700 block of Second Street around 8:30 Tuesday night.

Officers say they found 40-year-old Daniel Latorre Sr. on the floor with multiple stab wounds. His wife was also treated for non-life-threatening cut wounds.

Latorre Sr. died an hour later at the hospital.

Thomas Girardi, who has lived on this block for over 60 years, watched the emergency response unfold.

“This is a quiet street, very quiet. I mean, you come out here at 3:00 in the morning, sit on the porch, and there won’t be a soul that would bother you,” Girardi says.

“It’s so quiet. That’s why it’s so. It’s hard to believe what happened,” he added.

According to court paperwork, 21-year-old Daniel Latorre Jr. recorded a verbal disagreement on his phone between his father and his father’s wife before pulling out a pocket knife.

On the 911 call, he told dispatchers, “I stabbed him.”

During police questioning, he also confessed, “I didn’t mean to do it, bro, I just pulled out my knife and stabbed him in the stomach.”

“I knew it was bad, as you can see, cops, ambulance people running in and out. But you know, not to that extent,” Girardi says.

Girardi says he didn’t realize the severity of the situation until he got to work the next morning.

“The receptionist, you know, I told ’em what happened, and then about an hour later, she came out, and she said, hey, Tom, I just want to tell you your neighbor died. I said, what? I said, are you serious? He died? Danny died?” Girardi says.

As investigators work to piece together what led to the stabbing, Girardi says his heart breaks for the family.

“I just worry about her now because I don’t know how she’s gonna handle, you know, being by herself. I mean, they’re both gone,” Girardi says.

The coroner has ruled Latorre Sr.’s death a homicide, with an autopsy scheduled for Thursday.

Latorre Jr. is being held at the Lehigh County Jail without bail and faces charges including criminal homicide and assault. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for September 21st.