Investigators say the suspect was still legally married to the woman who shared the home with both men.
SOUTH DAYTONA, FL — A man was fatally stabbed on the front porch of a South Daytona home Wednesday afternoon after a domestic dispute involving three people living at the address, and another man is expected to face a homicide charge, the Volusia County sheriff said.
Authorities said the violence unfolded at 1028 Gary Blvd., where a husband, his estranged wife and the wife’s boyfriend had been living together. The case drew immediate attention because investigators said the husband and wife were still legally married even though they had unofficially ended their relationship, and the boyfriend had moved into the home earlier this year. By late Wednesday night, deputies said the boyfriend had died from his injuries, the suspect was in custody and detectives were still working to complete the case and formal charging paperwork.
Deputies were called to the home at about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday after a report of a stabbing, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators said the initial evidence showed the husband stabbed his wife’s boyfriend on the front porch. The victim was found critically hurt and taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, but he later died, authorities said. Sheriff Mike Chitwood told local television reporters that the address was home to two men and one woman and that the living arrangement had become part of the early investigation into what led to the attack. By Wednesday evening, the suspect had been arrested and booked into custody while detectives continued interviews and prepared the case for a homicide charge.
Officials have publicly identified the suspect as Austin Noel, described in local reporting as a man in his 30s, but authorities had released only limited details about the victim by late Wednesday. The sheriff’s office said the husband and wife had ended their relationship unofficially while continuing to live in the same house, a detail investigators believe is central to understanding the dispute. Authorities have not said publicly whether there had been an argument immediately before the stabbing, whether any weapons other than the knife were involved, or whether anyone else inside the home saw the attack begin. They also had not released the number of wounds, the exact place on the porch where the stabbing happened, or whether deputies recovered the weapon at the scene. Those unknowns are likely to become clearer once an arrest affidavit and court records are filed.
The case fits a pattern that law enforcement agencies often describe as especially volatile: a domestic conflict inside a shared home where relationships have changed but living arrangements have not. In this case, investigators said the woman and her husband were still married on paper, though no longer together, and that her boyfriend had moved into the residence earlier in 2026. That arrangement placed all three adults at the same address in a tight personal setting that neighbors said left them shaken after the violence. The home sits on Gary Boulevard in South Daytona, a city just south of Daytona Beach in Volusia County. By Wednesday night, crime-scene activity and media coverage had turned a residential block into the center of a homicide investigation, with deputies collecting evidence and piecing together what happened in the hours before the stabbing.
The criminal case now moves from the emergency response stage to the court process. Chitwood said Noel will face a homicide charge, though the exact charge had not been publicly listed late Wednesday night. In Florida, that first court phase typically includes booking, a probable cause review and an initial appearance before a judge, where conditions of detention and the formal reading of the allegations begin to take shape. Detectives still must finish witness interviews, submit physical evidence for analysis and coordinate with prosecutors on the final charging decision. The medical examiner’s findings are also expected to become an important part of the case record, because they will document the victim’s cause and manner of death. Additional records, including a probable cause affidavit and jail documents, could provide the next major update once they are filed.
Neighbors and relatives gave only limited public comment as investigators worked through the scene, but the reaction around the block reflected the shock that often follows sudden violence at a home address. One resident told local television that all anyone can do is try to help neighbors and hope something like this does not happen again. A family member of one of the people involved described the situation to reporters as traumatizing but declined to speak in detail on camera. The sheriff’s office, meanwhile, kept its public statements narrow and factual, focusing on the living arrangement, the porch stabbing and the victim’s death after being taken to the hospital. With many questions still unanswered, the official record remains incomplete, and the next public picture of the case is likely to come from charging documents and a court appearance.
As of late Wednesday, one man was dead, Austin Noel was in custody and investigators were preparing a homicide case tied to the stabbing at 1028 Gary Blvd. The next milestone is the filing of formal court records, which should clarify the charge, the evidence cited by detectives and the timing of Noel’s first appearance.
Author note: Last updated March 19, 2026.