Background: A section of the 700 block of South Arthur Avenue in Pocatello, Idaho (Google Maps). Inset: Marita Gonzales (Bannock County Sheriff”s Office).
A woman was at her Idaho home when she heard noises in her daughter’s bedroom and walked in to find another woman stabbing her child repeatedly, authorities say.
Marita Gonzales, 32, has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery, the Pocatello Police Department announced. She has been incarcerated in the Bannock County Jail.
On Sunday, a mother and daughter were at their apartment on the 700 block of South Arthur Avenue in Pocatello, Idaho, a city of some 60,000 people in the southeast part of the state. The 32-year-old daughter had met Gonzales online, and by nighttime, had invited her back to the home where the victim lived with her mother, the Idaho State Journal reported, citing court records.
At about 10 p.m., the 49-year-old mother is said to have witnessed a horrifying sight.
She reportedly heard a commotion in her daughter’s bedroom and, upon entering, saw someone stabbing her daughter 18 times. The suspect — later identified as Gonzales — then allegedly cut the mother in the face with the knife before running from the home.
Law enforcement was called, and Pocatello police officers responded to the home to find the younger stabbing victim nude, covered in blood, with stab wounds all across her face, head, neck, and hands, the court records stated. She was transported to a local hospital before being airlifted about 160 miles south to a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, where police reported her as being in stable condition after treatment.
The mother was brought to the local hospital, where she was treated and released, according to authorities.
The Pocatello Police Department said on Monday that it was looking for an “unknown male assailant” described as being “approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, short hair, wearing a hat and a dark jacket.” However, investigators reportedly saw surveillance footage of the daughter and a person entering a store about an hour before the incident, eventually helping them identify their suspect as Gonzales.
She was arrested on Tuesday. According to the Idaho State Journal, she appeared in court on Wednesday and was ordered to be held on a $1 million bond.
