Pastor Extends Forgiveness to Suspect in Deadly Church Stabbing

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Caller Times) — Pastor Janson Abraham, of Kingdom Acts Ministries International, ran from the back room of a residence to find a 28-year-old man attacking another church leader at the beginning of church services.

 Janson Abraham, pastor of Kingdom Acts Ministries International, points to his neck, indicating where one of four men was stabbed.  A man believed to be in his 30s is in police custody after four people were stabbed during the church service Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, inside the residence in the 1200 block of Cambridge Drive in Corpus Christi. One man died from his wounds. (Photo: Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times)

Just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, church members of the ministry and Harvest Tabernacle International Church, gathered at a home in the 1200 block of Cambridge Drive. The light green single-story home near Del Mar College East Campus is where its members have participated in a 40-day period of prayer and fasting.

“I heard the commotion and came out,” he said about the attack. “… Four men, including myself, were attacked.”Abraham said he quickly tried to stop the man from attacking the pastor. Another man, who was stabbed in the neck, Abraham said, also intervened. Another church member sustained injuries to his arm in an attempt to get the man off the pastor, police said. Abraham and the man who had injuries to his arm were discharged.  

 Marco A. Moreno (Photo: Contributed photo/Nueces County Jail)

After the investigation, police believe Marco Antonio Moreno, 28, attacked the men with a knife after a song. At the time, members were still arriving at the ministry. 

“We don’t know what made him do this. But … we can extend forgiveness. We can extend love,” Abraham said. “His mother is a part of our church, so we are going to help her in the process because it’s not easy for her.”The Facebook page for Kingdom Acts Ministries International includes the same Cambridge Drive address as the residence where the deadly attack took place. Moreno was taken into custody on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He now faces a murder charge. 

Corpus Christi police on scene said a pastor and a band member were stabbed. One man is recovering from stab wounds to the neck, Abraham said, and he is still in intensive care. 

 A 61-year-old man, later identified as Frank Castillo, died at the hospital. 

“He’s a wonderful individual. I have known him and his wife, his family for the last eight years. He was a veteran. … He was a loving husband, a committed father, and everyone who knows him knows he’s a fun guy to be around,” Abraham said. “As a Brother he was to us, as a father, he cannot be replaced. He will be missed truly.”

The pastor also said Castillo was a father of a son and daughter, one of whom is married. 

 

 

 

 Janson Abraham (right), pastor of Kingdom Acts Ministries International, greets a member of his ministry on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018, outside his home, which is also where many of the ministry services take place. A man believed to be in his 30s is in police custody after four people were stabbed during a church service Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, inside the residence in the 1200 block of Cambridge Drive in Corpus Christi. One man died from his wounds. (Photo: Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times)