Thread: 23-year-old gets 40 years in stabbing

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23-year-old gets 40 years in stabbing

By YONIKA WILLIS
Tribune Staff Writer

ELKHART — A 23-year-old man who admitted to trying to kill his girlfriend on Aug. 8 was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday.

Augustin Gerardo’s girlfriend, Josefina Morales, awakened that day to Gerardo stabbing her repeatedly in her Sixth Street apartment.

Morales fought for her life during the stabbing and even bit off Gerardo’s finger in the struggle, Elkhart County Deputy Prosecutor Christine Wrage said in court Thursday.

She sustained 20 cuts to her back and shoulder area, along with cuts to her head.

Detectives at the scene say the crime scene was one of the bloodiest ever, she added.

Gerardo, who pleaded guilty to the charges without a plea agreement, admitted in court to being under the influence of cocaine at the time.

“He has difficulty understanding how he did this,” public defender Brent Zook said of his client in court Thursday. “Perhaps it was because of the cocaine.”

For the two years Gerardo has been in the United States illegally, Wrage said, he’s committed two felonies, including this one and one for illegal drug activity.

“He’s an illegal alien and knows he’s going to be deported to Mexico after he serves his time,” Zook said Thursday.

Gerardo also expressed remorse for his actions.

“I regret doing what I did and I can take any sentence because I know I’m guilty of what I did,” he said.

Staff writer Yonika Willis
ywillis@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6556

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