Deputies Search For Man Suspected Of Stabbing Roommate

CHEROKEE CO., Ga - Cherokee County Sheriff Deputies are looking for a man suspected of stabbing his roommate Saturday morning. 

Investigators said 61-year-old Richard Sheriff is suspected of stabbing 45-year-old Claudia Santizo at a Canton home on York Drive following an argument.

“They do live in the same household,” said Lt. Jay Baker with The Cherokee Co. Sheriff’s Office.  “I do not know what the motive is in this particular incident was, but some type of argument occurred this morning and it resulted in a stabbing,” said Lt. Baker.

Santizo was taken to Kennestone Hospital with non-life threatening wounds to her neck and arm.  Investigators believe a box cutter was used in the stabbing and said the blade did not penetrate Santizo’s skin.

“Several police cars out here parked all around the house,” said Mark Ellis who lives in the Canton neighborhood.  “I am not really sure what was going on.”  Ellis told FOX Five’s Nathalie Pozo that he has seen police at the home several times in the past.

Deputies said Sheriff left the scene after the stabbing in an older model brownish/gold Toyota Corolla with black wheels and a black spoiler on the trunk. 

Investigators have released Sheriff’s mug shot from a prior drug related arrest to surrounding law enforcement agencies.  Deputies ask anyone with information to contact The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.