A Florida man who police say has ahistory of domestic violence stands accused of killing the pregnant mother of his two children before attempting to kill himself.
Relatives identified 41-year-old Delfina Perez Chilel in a GoFundMe as the four-month pregnant woman who was found dead on Nov. 12 inside her Hallandale Beach home. Her children’s father, Victor Chavez Sanchez Sr., 38, was arrested on Saturday and charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by HuffPost, Chavez Sanchez admitted to police that he had killed Perez Chilel after they argued because he believed she had put pills into a glass of milk for him. A relative told police that Chavez Sanchez has schizophrenia and had not been taking his medication, according to authorities.
An attorney representing Chavez Sanchez didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. A judge has ordered that he undergo a mental health screening and receive “all appropriate medications.”
On Nov. 12, Hallandale Beach police were initially called to the school that the couple’s children attend after a staff member, who is also Perez Chilel’s relative, reported that she had missed pick-up, according to the probable cause affidavit. The relative told police that Perez Chilel was never late to pick up her kids.
The relative further stated that the children’s father, Chavez Sanchez, was no longer allowed to pick up the kids from the school and had been known to be violent toward the children’s mother.
Court records reviewed by HuffPost show that Chavez Sanchez was charged in a 2015 domestic violence case with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman. The case was disposed of for unclear reasons. Police also noted in the affidavit that Chavez Sanchez has a documented history of domestic violence.
According to The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an estimated 20% of women experience violence during pregnancy. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that 45.3% of homicides of female victims who were pregnant or had been pregnant within a year of their deaths involved intimate partner violence.
Perez Chilel’s relative told detectives that Chavez Sanchez had threatened to kill his children’s mother and then himself on multiple occasions because “he did not want her to live or exist without him,” according to the affidavit. She said Perez Chilel and her children were afraid of Chavez Sanchez, and that the mother slept in a separate bedroom and hid all the knives in their home.
The affidavit describes police officers accompanying the relative to Perez Chilel’s home to check on her. When authorities forced their way into the house, they found Perez Chilel dead in one of the bathrooms.
Police described finding her on the floor in a pool of blood. She had multiple defensive wounds, heavy bruises and stab wounds, according to the affidavit. Though she did not sustain any direct injuries to her uterus, the killing ended her pregnancy at 20 weeks.
A Luminol light revealed blood speckles throughout the kitchen that could not be seen with the naked eye, as well as blood streaks on the floor from apparent mopping and a trail of blood dripping to a container of Clorox wipes in the living room, according to the affidavit.
Notes were also found around the house that appeared to be written by Chavez Sanchez, letting family members know he loved them, police said.
Chavez Sanchez was found in a nearby bedroom “in a deep and heavy sleep,” according to the affidavit. He eventually woke up after officers made multiple attempts to rouse him, and police noted he had four long scratches on his back.
Detectives determined that Chavez Sanchez had taken several pills in an attempt to kill himself, police said in the affidavit. Authorities added that there was an empty prescription bottle of lamotrigine, an anti-seizure/anti-epilepsy drug with his name on it. The relative told police that Chavez Sanchez was prescribed the drug to treat his schizophrenia but had stopped taking it last year, the affidavit said.
Chavez Sanchez was taken to a hospital, where he spoke to detectives several days later on Nov. 15, according to the affidavit. He allegedly told detectives that he could not remember every detail from the day Perez Chilel was found dead because his mind had been so tormented. When detectives asked if he could remember the last image he had of Perez Chilel, he began to cry, according to the affidavit. He reportedly said Perez Chilel had been “provoking” him that day and that he had witnessed her going into the bathroom with a cup of milk. Chavez Sanchez said she might have had pills in there to give him, and the two started arguing, according to the affidavit.
Chavez Sanchez told detectives he had approached Perez Chilel with a knife in his hand and told her she was not going to use him again, the affidavit said. He reportedly told detectives that Perez Chilel has threatened him in the past, adding, “I think she’s been trying to kill me for a while.” He then confessed to killing her, the affidavit said.
As part of the investigation, Perez Chilel and Chavez Sanchez’s children spoke to a child forensic interviewer and said that their father was very strict and that they had been scared that he might do something to their mother, according to the affidavit.
On the GoFundMe page, Perez Chilel’s sister said the family is raising money to bring her body home to Guatemala for burial. The sister added that she is now raising her niece and nephew along with her own kids.
“Their lives will not be easy. They are the true victims of this tragedy. I pray we as a family are enough and that we do right by them,” she wrote.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.