Gabrielle Lopez
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A 35-year-old woman allegedly stabbed her mother’s caretaker in Northeast El Paso Tuesday, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police arrested and charged Shaloni Mariah Wallace with murder, the El Paso Police Department said. It identified the stabbing victim as 36-year-old April Marie Flores.
(Courtesy: EPPD)
According to EPPD Officer Adrian Cisneros, it happened around 11 a.m. at 4980 Sean Haggerty Dr. That’s at the Patriot Palms apartments near the U.S. 54.
Upon arrival, police officers found Flores on the sidewalk between two apartment buildings. Documents said she had multiple stab wounds on her torso.
Multiple witnesses helped Flores, according to documents. Flores also alleged that Wallace stabbed her.
Flores later died at a hospital, police said.
A maintenance worker told officers he saw Wallace walking toward and apartment holding a large knife with blood on it, documents said. Investigators said officers followed a trail of blood that led them to the apartment the maintenance worker mentioned.
Investigators said Wallace opened the door and shut it after she saw police. Officers made forced entry into the apartment and took her into custody.
Officers noticed the front door of a different apartment unit was open and saw what appeared to be blood on the entryway, documetns said. Inside, officers met Wallace’s mother.
Wallace’s mother said Flores was her caretaker, documents said.
According to Wallace’s mother, Flores has been her caretaker for about two weeks, documents said. Wallace used to be her mother’s caretaker, but “had to let her go because she was not doing a good job.”
Flores went to her apartment at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday. Wallace went to the apartment at about 10:45 a.m.
Wallace lives in the same apartment complex, but in a different unit with her 11-year-old daughter, documents said.
Her mother said Wallace and Flores didn’t know each other and “everything seemed fine initially,” according to documents.
Wallace allegedly started hitting Flores for an “unknown reason.” Wallace’s mother said she didn’t see if Wallace had a knife during the attack and saw blood by the front door, documents said.
The maintenance worker said he heard someone yelling for help. Documents said he saw Flores walking with her head down and grabbing onto her chest with blood all over her.
Documents said the maintenance worker ran to the property office and told his supervisor to call 911, documents said. He walked back to Flores, who was on the ground. Investigators said that’s when the maintenance worker saw Wallace allegedly walk by with a knife.
Investigators received video footage from an apartment nearby. Documents said the video showed Wallace allegedly holding a knife and wearing the same clothes the maintenance worker told investigators about.
In an interview, Wallace allegedly couldn’t state why she went to her mother’s apartment, documents said. When authorities asked her if anyone besides her mother was in the apartment, Wallace allegedly said “no,” but then later said “possibly.”
Police temporarily closed the apartment complex area for investigation.
Patriot Palms residents told ABC-7 they felt left in the dark when police closed off the area.
The situation upended residents like David and Heather Brown, who moved from New Jersey to be near their grandchildren.
“It’s just unfortunate that something like that had to happen. That’s my issue. There’s a lot of kids around here,” David said.
Officer Cisneros said anyone with information about the stabbing should call police or the Crime Stoppers at (915)566-TIPS(8477) or through its tip form.
Click here to follow the original article.
