SAN ANTONIO – At least one neighbor says he saw trouble coming for a woman who was killed Tuesday night in what San Antonio police have labeled as a case of deadly domestic violence.
Roy Gonzales told KSAT 12 News he had noticed the couple next door having heated arguments, possibly involving physical violence, on numerous occasions.
“I told her to leave,” Gonzales said. “If you’re not making it, to leave because there’s no use being there fighting.”
Woman fatally stabbed inside South Side home; man in custody, police say
On Tuesday night, Gonzales said he noticed flashing lights and police cars along the 100 block of Division Avenue, near S. Flores Street, and knew something bad had happened. He just never imagined his neighbor had been killed.
“She would always talk to us and play with my dogs when they got out and everything. But she was real friendly,” Gonzales said, reflecting on the woman. “I just saw her Saturday, and now she’s gone. It’s so sad.”
San Antonio police have arrested James Mendoza, 52, on a charge of murder related to the woman’s death.
A police report said relatives of the 41-year-old victim had called for a welfare check after the woman went to the home on Division Avenue alone, and they had trouble reaching her.
The report said there had been a previous domestic violence incident that had the family members concerned.
When officers entered the home around 11 p.m., they found the woman dead from stab wounds, the report said.
Police said they also found Mendoza suffering from self-inflicted stab wounds. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and then charged with murder.
“I couldn’t tell you what was going on in those people’s minds when they were fighting,” said Gonzales, trying to make sense of the deadly violence.
Records show Mendoza had several previous arrests, including two from the 1990s and one for assault around the same time.
A report from SAPD also shows two recent calls related to disturbances at the couple’s home. Those are in addition to the calls Tuesday that led to the discovery of the woman’s death.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office still had not positively identified the woman.