Inset: Joe Herrera (McLennan County Jail). Background: The suburban street near where Herrera allegedly stabbed his girlfriend in Waco, Tex. (Google Maps).
In Texas, authorities have apprehended a man following an incident where he allegedly stabbed his live-in girlfriend multiple times in the chest, as reported by state police.
Identified as Joe Herrera, aged 39, he faces charges of aggravated assault connected to family violence, as detailed by the Waco Police Department.
The violent episode unfolded on March 3 at a home located on Colcord Avenue in Waco, a city situated approximately 100 miles northwest of Austin.
Police officers responded to a 911 call reporting an active disturbance involving a stabbing. This information comes from an arrest affidavit sourced by the local CBS and Telemundo station, KWTX.
Upon arrival, officers discovered a large window broken at the front of the house and found Herrera standing in the yard, his shirt stained with blood, according to the affidavit. Investigators quickly identified him as the alleged assailant wielding the knife.
The affidavit further states that the victim recounted how Herrera stabbed her in the chest several times with a paring knife, but she eventually managed to lock him out of the house.
Officers noted physical injuries on the woman said to be consistent with her account and photographed those injuries, police said.
The defendant allegedly told police he was trying to force his way back into the house because he saw his girlfriend naked inside with a man he did not recognize. Herrera also admitted to breaking the window and said that when he did so, he saw an unknown Black man run away from the house on foot, according to the affidavit.
Investigators, however, said there was no evidence another man was inside the residence. Rather, Herrera’s narrative of the events likely stemmed from paranoia after apparently seeing his girlfriend without pants through the window and him then jumping to the conclusion she had another man with her, police said.
The violence is believed to have occurred roughly two to five minutes before Herrera was locked out, according to the affidavit.
The incident is said to be evidence of a trend.
Herrera “seems to be fixated” on the idea his girlfriend is cheating on him, according to the affidavit. Law enforcement learned that many of the arguments between the couple have involved the man wanting to go through the woman’s cellphone and objecting to her going places without his knowledge, police said.
In the affidavit, a detective also wrote that the defendant has a history of being convicted for domestic violence offenses.
Herrera was arrested earlier this week and booked in the McLennan County Jail on $20,000 bond. He is no longer on the jail’s inmate roster as of this writing, and the McLennan County court system has yet to docket his case.
