HOUSTON, Texas – A Galena Park man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for fatally stabbing his wife in front of their young daughter on the night after they discussed separating.
“This is a horrific case, and our hearts go out the children who lost their mother and had to witness this terrible crime,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “Domestic violence has become an epidemic in our community, and we’ve all learned the most dangerous time is when victims leave their abuser.”
Jose Antonio Medellin, 42, was sentenced Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to stabbing 38-year-old Mayra Falcon-Medellin as she slept in a bed with her 8-year-old daughter at their home in the 1700 block of Dunaway on January 24, 2020.
In court, prosecutors explained that the couple had been growing apart and were in the process of splitting up. On the night of the murder, Jose Medellin hired a mariachi band to serenade his wife at home in a bid to win her back. After the band left, Mayra apparently told Jose that she wanted to separate and went to bed.
Later that night, Jose came into the bedroom where Mayra was sleeping with their 8-year-old daughter and brutally stabbed her in front of their child.
Galena Park Police Department officers and deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene about 4 a.m. to find the young girl cowering in another room.
“She was a good mom, she loved her four children and was working multiple jobs to take care of them,” said Assistant District Attorney Michael Hanover, the prosecutor who handled the case with Assistant District Attorney Mateo Gonzalez.
