Man kills friend, drinks his blood

A judge denied bail for Mauricio Mendez Lopez on Thursday. Lopez is being held in a Polk County Jail. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney.

Lopez is accused of killing Macario Cruz in a house they shared in Bartow.

A third resident, Cruz's sister-in-law Mariella Mendez, told police that Lopez was upset because she was in a relationship with Mendez.

A police report says Lopez struck the victim in the face and later stabbed him to death.

The woman told police Lopez left with a plastic cup in his hand that appeared to hold blood. She said he drank from the cup in a strange ritual from their native Mexico.