Woman stabs boyfriend to death after drinking and arguing, police say
Phoenix police arrested a woman after she stabbed and killed her boyfriend during a fight in west Phoenix Sunday afternoon.
Police said 52-year-old Esperanza Bautista Valencia called 911 around noon and said she stabbed her boyfriend at their home near 52nd and Windsor avenues.
Officers arrived at the location to find a man dead in the driveway with multiple stab wounds, and they took Valencia into custody without incident.
According to court documents, Valencia said the two had gotten into a verbal argument the night before and admitted to drinking beer and whiskey around 3 a.m.
Valencia said the couple began to argue again the afternoon of the incident when Valencia thought her boyfriend was going to leave her. She alleged he pushed her to the ground before she went into the kitchen to retrieve a knife and threatened to kill her boyfriend for touching her, according to court documents.
Court records said the two had lived together for two years and had prior domestic violence incidents involving arguments and alcohol abuse.
Valencia admitted to cutting the man's right arm and then stabbing him in the chest. After she rolled him over and saw he was bleeding from his chest Valencia said she called 911.
In a panic, Valencia said she tried rinsing the blood off of the knife in the kitchen sink before placing the knife back on the ground next to the man's body.
Court documents stated Valencia admitted to threatening him with knives in the past and that she became very angry at her boyfriend and "everyone" often. It was noted Valencia's record had prior domestic violence arrests from Chicago and California with one incident also involving a knife.
She was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and trying to destroy evidence, and her bail was set to $1 million. The victim's identity was not yet released.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police arrest woman who fatally stabbed boyfriend
