A 24-year-old Elkhart man was fatally stabbed Wednesday morning at Ameri-Kart Corp. in Cassopolis.

According to the police, the stabbing happened at 5:26 a.m. at the business located at 19300 Grange St. in Mason Township.

The two employees reportedly got into an argument as they worked on the same machine. They went on break before the company was scheduled to host a safety meeting.

That is when the suspect, also 23, pulled a knife and stabbed the victim, Jan Carlos Velazquez Mendez, 24, in the neck.

According to Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke, the two men had only worked together for a few months.

The victim was treated by company emergency responders and later ambulance personnel from Edwardsburg and SEPSA ambulance services. They were not able to revive the subject from his injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Other workers helped detain the suspect until police arrived.

“Preliminary investigation shows that the subjects involved were working together at the plant,” Behnke said. “The subjects were on a break when for an unknown reason a fight ensued. Witnesses report that they thought it was a fistfight until they saw the victim bleeding from the neck area and realized that the suspect had a knife.

The victim left the break area to get away from the suspect. The suspect went into another area of the business where he was detained by other employees until deputies arrived.”

The suspect has been taken into custody and lodged in the Cass County Jail awaiting arraignment.

An autopsy will be performed at Western Michigan University today.

Ameri-Kart, which is two miles northern of the Elkhart County line, is a custom molding manufacturer for recreational vehicles, boats and other products.