Man stabs pregnant wife 20 times so no one else could raise the baby, Texas police say

A Texas woman accused her husband of hitting her in the face two times and killing their cat, which was found dead in a bag of liquid inside its kennel last week, police said.

Alex Guajardo, 22, was then jailed on a domestic violence charge and released Friday, police said.

Hours later, his pregnant wife was dead.

Guajardo called 911 about 4 p.m. Saturday to report he needed help because he had killed his wife at the couple’s home, Pasadena, Texas police said at a news conference Monday. When officers went to the apartment, Guajardo met them outside with a large amount of blood on his hands, police said.

They went inside the apartment and found Caitlynne Guajardo, 20, who was four months pregnant, stabbed in the stomach and throat, police said. She was rushed to the hospital but died a couple of hours later, police said.

Guajardo told investigators he killed his wife so no one else could raise the child, police Chief Josh Bruegger said during the news conference.

“He did state that he stabbed her in the stomach multiple times because he didn’t want another man to raise his baby,” Bruegger said.

Guajardo is charged with capital murder in the death of his wife and the baby, police said.

About 18 hours before the killing, Guajardo had been released on bond for the domestic violence charge without a “no contact” order, which legally would have required him to stay away from his wife, police said. Guajardo also was free from jail after being charged in May with drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident in Houston, police said in a Facebook video.

Bruegger blamed the county’s bail system for allowing Guajardo to go free.

“In my opinion, these bail decisions are at least in part responsible for the death of Caitlynne Guajardo this past weekend,” Bruegger said in the video.

This story was originally published August 5, 2019 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Man stabs pregnant wife 20 times so no one else could raise the baby, Texas police say."