The City of Santa Rosa is grappling with the tragic escalation of a violent incident that began with an argument and ended in a death. The Santa Rosa Police Department confirmed that Jacob Phillips, a 26-year-old male resident of Santa Rosa, succumbed to his injuries last Saturday after being stabbed earlier this month. The altercation took place at Phillips’s apartment on Third Street, turning a heated exchange between acquaintances into a deadly encounter, according to a news release from the SRPD.
The reported suspect, Robert Mendoza, is now facing amended charges. Detectives from the SRPD’s Violent Crimes Investigations Team have pushed for the initial attempted murder charge to be upgraded to murder, after Phillips’s passing marked Santa Rosa’s 12th homicide of 2025. The SRPD release did not include the details of the argument or a motive at the time, owing, to an ongoing investigation…