?We began drinking white rum at the house of his brother, Martin,? said Quintanilla.

Quintanilla said only he and his friend were drinking; Martin was not drinking.

After they got drunk, Quintanilla, accompanied his friend to his apartment, located in the Louisiana area. Quintanilla said that when he and his friend reached the apartment, his friend went inside, while he stayed outside.

Quintanilla claimed he did not see anything in his friend?s hand when he returned from the apartment.

?At first I thought my friend was punching me in a joking manner in my abdomen, but then I realized it was serious when I felt the searing pain,? said Quintanilla.

Quintanilla said that after he had been stabbed twice in his abdomen, he put up his left forearm to shield off his friend?s assault, and was stabbed twice in his forearm.

Quintanilla said he then took to his heels and ran until he reached the house of his ex-common-law wife, Neidi Castillo, where he sought refuge.

Quintanilla was taken to Northern Regional Hospital, where he was admitted to ward. He was transferred to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital later the same day, where he received an emergency operation to repair his punctured stomach.

?I don?t know why my friend stabbed me, because I did not do him anything, and he and I did not have any kind of misunderstanding,? said Quintanilla.

Quintanilla said he and his assailant have been friends for about 18 months.