No bail in fatal Peabody restaurant stabbing

PEABODY – Saturday night at P.F. Chang?s at the Northshore Mall started out as a celebration for the kitchen workers at the popular restaurant. It ended up as a nightmare.Former employee David Holland, who is still friendly with many of the workers there, said there had been a small going-away party for a worker who was returning to Mexico.?Everyone was having cake and having a good time,” said Holland, who got the information from a friend who was working that night.Suddenly, Holland said, his friend, Elivelton Dias, was stabbed in the back. Then, he said, there was chaos. Dias was rushed to Salem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His murder has left co-workers and friends stunned and struggling to find any justification for it.?He was such a good kid,” said Holland, who said he “worked alongside (Dias) for more than four years.”He said his friend told him, “the kid just turned and stabbed Elivelton in the back with a sushi knife.”Meanwhile, the suspect, 23-year-old Jaquan Huston, was ordered held without bail after a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf Monday on charges of murder.Huston is accused of stabbing Dias while they were both working in the kitchen of the restaurant. Peabody police got the 911 call around 5:40 p.m.Essex Assistant District Attorney Ashlee Logan told the court at Monday?s arraignment that Huston told police he believed the victim was saying something about him in Spanish. The defendant then allegedly plunged the knife into the victim?s back, Logan said.The Essex District Attorney?s office said that Huston fled the scene after the stabbing and was picked up by police a short time later at his Salem home.The restaurant was closed immediately after the stabbing, and will remain closed until this evening.Holland said Dias was a native Brazilian who had fled his hometown to get away from the violence there.?He was basically by himself,” Holland said. “He was working hard to send money back home.”He also recently became a father.?The baby (girl) is only 10 days old,” Holland said. “Elivelton had only returned to work two days earlier. He had been out because of the pregnancy.”Dias had worked himself up to being a sous chef, and part of his job involved training newcomers to the P.F. Chang?s workforce, Holland said. Among those newcomers was Huston, who had only been working at the restaurant for two weeks.Holland labeled ridiculous any suggestions that Dias may have been threatening toward Huston in any way (according to a statement Huston allegedly gave police, he said he believed Dias was threatening him and he “did what I had to do.”).?He was the most quiet, most non-confrontational person you?d ever meet,” said Holland. “There?s no way he?d do anything that would provoke anyone. He was very soft-spoken.?He?s one of the nicest persons I?ve ever worked with in restaurants,” Holland said. “I know it sounds like a cliche, but it?s true.”Dias? friends have set up a GoFundMe account in hopes of raising enough money to bring his body back to Brazil.?His wife is from Brazil, too, and she doesn?t speak any English, and doesn?t know anybody. We?re just trying to raise enough money so they can send everyone back to Brazil, and he can have a proper burial.”Restaurant officials, in a statement, called the incident “tragic,” and promised to “mobilize support to care for our colleague?s family as well as our fellow employees.”A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28. Attorney Joseph Collins is representing Huston.