A stabbing 'victim' or 'suspect'?

We had a conversation in the newsroom about this headline "Stabbing victim mentally ill." The story was about a Covina man who apparently started a knife fight and then was fatally stabbed. Is he a victim? Is he a suspect? Police were investigating the incident and the man supposedly attacked may still have been charged, though it's doubtful. It's the general rule that we use accuser or something similar rather than victim unless someone has been convicted. It doesn't mean we are judging anyone. When it comes to crime stories though, the press, including us, tend to automatically believe law enforcement. And sometimes, and I know this is a shock, they are wrong. So we try to have a semblance of skepticism in the story. It doesn't always appear that way though.