BARTOW - Mauricio Lopez, who is accused of murdering a man and drinking the victim’s blood while four children watched, has been arrested.

Bartow police arrested Lopez sometime Wednesday evening as he was walking down the street.

According to police, Mauricio Lopez broke into a home, killed a man, and drank the victim's blood while four children watched.

On Sunday, August 1, Bartow Police say Lopez smashed through a window, and locked the doors of a home on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. He confronted his niece’s boyfriend, Macario Cruz, stabbing him in the heart and liver around 9:30 p.m.

Sergeant David Wyant said Lopez was angry over Cruz's relationship with his niece, Mirella Mendez.

The victim's girlfriend told ABC Action News reporter Karen Castillo in Spanish that her four sons witnessed the crime, and they now have trouble sleeping. "They scream, cry and yell 'don't kill him'," Mendez said.

Marvin, 9, has blood shot eyes and is very depressed after what he says the suspect did next.

"He had a cup of blood in his hand and said 'the devil tells me his life is now mine and I'm going to drink it,' then he drank what was in the cup," said Mendez.

Police say that this is one of the most gruesome acts they have ever investigated in the city of Bartow.

"It adds to the shock value. Anytime you get a report like that it definitely demands more attention," said Sergeant David Wyant.

Lopez is being questioned at the Bartow Police department.

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