Emmanuel Espinoza drove this white sedan from Gainesville, Florida, down to the area of Frostproof, Florida, where he stabbed his mother, Elvia Espinoza, to death, according to deputies. (Image: Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
A young man allegedly told deputies that he loved his mother — even after he turned himself in for stabbing her to death.
Emmanuel Espinoza, 21, committed an “inexplicable, vicious murder” by killing beloved elementary school teacher, Elvia Espinoza, 46, said Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida.
The defendant, a pre-med student at the University of Florida in Gainesville, on Saturday was driving down to his mother’s home in a forest south of the city of Frostproof, according to authorities. There was going to be a family event this weekend for a grandparent. He asked his mother, Elvia, if he could stay at her place. She said yes.
Later asked about his relationship with his mother, defendant Espinoza allegedly said he really loved her. The relationship was “about an eight out of 10,” Judd said, paraphrasing the suspect.
The sheriff said that Elvia taught second grade at Ben Hill Griffin Elementary School and is “well loved by the community.”
And yet the defendant decided on Saturday that he would kill his mother, according to the sheriff’s office.
Judd stated, “He said, ‘You know, I have wanted to kill my mother for many, many years because she got on my nerves.’”
Espinoza allegedly drove down in a white sedan, and when his mother opened the door to her home, he began stabbing her. Elvia Espinoza, who had been on the phone with a relative, ran, but Emmanuel stabbed her until she fell down and died, according to Judd.
The son called 911, immediately confessed to the operators, and is cooperating, the sheriff said. He is charged with first-degree murder.
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