The victim of a horrific beheading outside a home in San Carlos, California, has been identified as 27-year-old Karina Castro – a mother to seven-year-old and one-year-old girls.
The beheading occurred at approximately 11:50 a.m. on Thursday, according to the San Mateo Sheriff’s Department. When deputies arrived, they found Castro’s decapitated body, and a suspect was arrested shortly after.
Castro’s daughters were inside the house at the time of the attack and did not witness it, according to authorities.
Police officers who responded to the scene are reportedly receiving counseling.
Raphael Solano Landaeta, 33, who was Castro’s estranged boyfriend, has been identified as the suspect who allegedly committed the beheading. He fathered her youngest child, according to family members, per ABC 7.
Castro’s family also says that Solano was a rapper and a diagnosed schizophrenic on medication.
The accused suspect allegedly cut the victim’s head off with a sword, NBC Bay Area reported.
The couple was reportedly engaged in a bitter dispute the lead up to the attack through Snapchat messages. One message shows Castro threatening to reveal Solano’s sexual relationship with another man, ABC 7 reported.
Prior to the dispute and attack, a restraining order had also been placed on Solano in April, but the couple continued to visit each other, according to the family.
Castro’s father, Martin, is devastated and angry about the attack and wants Solano to face retribution for his alleged crimes.
“If they’ll give him the death penalty, I’m all for it,” Martin Castro told NBC Bay Area.
“None of us have eaten. None of us have slept. None of us have drank anything. Nothing,” he added. “I can’t even feel anything right now, except hurt. I’m empty.”
Castro’s family is currently working on getting the two young girls back, as they were taken away by social services following the attack.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.
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