TAMPA, Florida. – THE Hillsborough County The sheriff’s office is investigating after a 19-year-old was stabbed and killed last weekend.

Arnold Gutierrez was killed Sunday at the Northgreen at Carrollwood Apartments on Northgreen Avenue.

FOX 13 spoke with the victim’s grieving family, who said the teen had gone to help friends in need when the stabbing happened.

The family of 19-year-old Arnold Gutierrez is mourning his death after he was stabbed and killed last weekend at a Hillsborough County apartment complex. (Courtesy: Elena Saggioro)

“He was a very good friend,” Virginia Rosa said.

Rosa said her son was passionate about fishing and his friendships. She said Arnold’s friends always knew they had a safe place to stay at her house.

“They knew they had a place to sleep at night, he would bring his friends,” Rosa said.

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His older sister Elena said it was that loyalty that brought him to the apartment complex early Sunday morning.

Investigators said there was an altercation between Arnold and the suspect, Michael Aldana.

Photo by Michael Aldana. (Courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office).

His sister Elena said there was more to it than that. She said he was home and sleeping around 1 a.m. when he received a call from a friend asking for help. The friend said he and a 16-year-old girl were not safe in the apartment with the suspect, Michael Aldana.

“He could have called the police and if the police had been involved from the jump. I really believe that, of course, he would be alive if they had called the police to begin with. But bro, I’m just trying to being a good friend, he went there,” she said.

She said that after helping his friends get out of the apartment safely, Arnold was allegedly stabbed by Aldana as he tried to get into the car.

Hillsborough County deputies say Arnold Gutierrez, 19, was stabbed to death Sunday at an apartment complex in Carrollwood.

At the hospital, his mother said she learned her son had been stabbed multiple times. She was unable to see her son’s body.

“We were not prepared for a 19-year-old to be murdered, as he was, to the extent that he was,” Elena said.

The family said not only are they grieving an unexpected loss, but they now face unexpected funeral expenses.

“We haven’t even confirmed a funeral home or cemetery. It’s all up in the air,” she said.

The family of 19-year-old Arnold Gutierrez is mourning his death after he was stabbed and killed last weekend at a Hillsborough County apartment complex. (Courtesy: Elena Saggioro)

Despite her own pain, Arnold’s mother gave a meaningful gift, donating her eyes to help someone else see again.

“They told me someone needed eyes. I wanted to say no, but I want to see those eyes again. And I’ll know they’re my son’s eyes,” she said.

While the investigation remains active, they want to make sure anyone involved in his death is held accountable.

Aldana is charged with first-degree murder.

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