LAWRENCE, Mass. — Police say a Massachusetts man has been charged with killing his wife after they both were found suffering from stab wounds Monday Police Chief Roy Vasque tells The Eagle-Tribune officers responded to a Lawrence address shortly after 5 p.m. Monday and found the married couple lying in a pool of blood.
Vasque said the two apparently stabbed each other.
The Essex district attorney’s office says the woman, 28-year-old Yesinia Torres, died during surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. CBS Boston reports she told first responders before she died, “Help me, I can’t breathe, he stabbed me.”
Her husband, 32-year-old Joel Monegro, was also bleeding heavily. He told police both he and his wife were armed with knives, but he insists she stabbed him first, the station reports.
He reportedly told police: “We stabbed each other. Help her out. She’s going to die.”
Monegro was charged with murder and arraigned from his hospital bed. He remains at Tufts Medical Center where he is recovering from his injuries.
The couple was going through a divorce and Joel Monegro had been scheduled to move out the day of the stabbings, reports CBS Boston.The couple had been together for 13 years, the station reports.
Monegro was reportedly arrested five years ago for assaulting Torres. Neighbor Ana Brea told the station the couple has three children – two young boys and a girl.
“I just can’t believe, I don’t know why he took her away from us,” said Janet Colon, Torres’ aunt. “She was a loving person, hard-working person, a loving mother.”
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
