Nearly a month after fatal stabbing, police searching for trio accused of murder

Juan Antonio Hidalgo Flores, left; Oscar Daniel Flores-Lara, middle and Luis Eduardo Hidalgo Flores, right are sought in connection to a stabbing incident that happened at Hamilton's FOP Lodge May 7, 2022. HAMILTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

Juan Antonio Hidalgo Flores, left; Oscar Daniel Flores-Lara, middle and Luis Eduardo Hidalgo Flores, right are sought in connection to a stabbing incident that happened at Hamilton's FOP Lodge May 7, 2022. HAMILTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

HAMILTON — Nearly a month after a fatal stabbing at a teen girl’s quinceañera, the trio of men charged with murder remain fugitives.

Juan Antonio Hidalgo-Flores, 39; Oscar Daniel Flores-Lara,19 and Luis Eduardo Hidalgo-Flores, 18 have each been indicted by a Butler County grand jury for murder, attempted murder and several counts of felonious assault for the stabbing death of 20-year-old Ivan Isreal Diaz and the assault of three others.

Hamilton Police are still searching for the trio and have increased the reward to $2,500 each for information that results in the arrest of the men.

Sara Elena Rodriguez-Remigio, 46, was indicted for tampering with evidence and obstructing justice, both felonies, in the deadly stabbing at the FOP Lodge in Hamilton on May 7. Last week, she was arraigned in Butler County Common Pleas Court where Judge Keith Spaeth increased her bond to $155,000. She is also being held on a holder for ICE.

Detectives say Rodriguez-Remigio hid the knife believed to be the murder weapon.

Sara Rodriguez-Remigio appeared for arraignment Tuesday, May 24 in Butler County Common Pleas Court in connection with the fatal stabbing at the Fraternal Order of Police lodge that occurred earlier this month. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

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Credit: Nick Graham

“We have engaged with not only local but federal partners including homeland security and the U.S. Marshals service,” Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said, noting at least one of the men has contacts in Mexico. “We are considering all possibilities. We do have some leads and we are pursuing those leads.”

Evidence points to one person stabbing all four victims and one firing a gun in the building, but all the suspects are complicit in the act that resulted in Diaz’ death, detectives said. Another person fired a gun in the building, but no one was hit.

The indictment is 10 pages long and contains 53 felony counts for all of the suspects. Prosecutors allege Oscar Flores is the person who stabbed all four people and the other two were complicit to all the crimes.

The surviving victims ― Adan Edgardo Segoviano Hernandez, 21, of Hamilton; Joaquin Tovar, 56, of Hamilton; and Jerson Estrada Medrano, 21, of Hamilton ― were treated for severe lacerations which were not life-threatening, police said.

The stabbing incident that happened at the FOP Lodge 38 on Joe Nuxhall Way on May 7 initially was reported to police as a shooting. Hamilton and Fairfield police officers and the Hamilton Fire Department were dispatched to the lodge where the quinceañera was taking place — that is a traditional birthday party on a girl’s 15th birthday celebrated among Mexican and Latin communities and families.

Some uninvited guests arrived at the party, and at one point, someone fired a gun into the air, according to witnesses who called 911.

Mario Flores, cousin of Oscar and Juan, told the Journal-News the violence that night is a case of fighting families that began in March with a violent incident in Hamilton County at a private party at a club on Harrison Road. He said Diaz was a close friend of the other family. Both members of that family and the Flores family were at the March party.

Anyone with knowledge about the whereabouts of Juan, Luis and Oscar Flores is asked to contact Hamilton police at (513) 868-5811, ext. 2002, or call 911.

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