Man Allegedly Killed Wife by Nearly Decapitating Her Near Their Children

Baltazar Perez-Estrada has been charged with five counts of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of Maricela Simon Franco

• Authorities said a man turned himself into an Illinois police department, claiming he had stabbed his wife

• Maricela Simon Franco was allegedly killed following a domestic dispute, per police

• Franco's two children had recently arrived in the U.S. to see their mother, family said

A man has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder in connection with the brutal killing of his wife, authorities said.

Maricela Simon Franco, 26, was fatally stabbed, with her head “nearly” decapitated in her Carol Stream, Ill., home on March 31, Dupage County authorities said in a press release shared on Thursday, April 4.

Baltazar Perez-Estrada, 33, turned himself into the Carol Stream Police Department on the morning of April 1 and told authorities that he had “allegedly stabbed his wife,” per the release, adding that "officers took Perez-Estrada into custody at this time and immediately opened an investigation."

Investigators said the couple “got into a verbal altercation” late in the evening on March 31. After turning into a physical altercation. Perez-Estrada allegedly “stab[bed] Franco dozens of times [around] her head, neck, body and hands, nearly decapitating her head,” authorities said.

Per the release, investigators learned that the couple’s two children "were present at the time of the alleged murder." In a GoFundMe set up for the children, a woman identifying herself as Franco's aunt said the children — 7 and 8 years old — recently came to the U.S. to see their mother.

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“Not only has this senseless and brutal act removed Maricela from their lives, but it has robbed two young children of their mother,” Carol Stream Chief of Police Don Cummings said, per the release.

“The extremely violent end to a young mother’s life is something that should touch us all,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. “In this case, the sad reality is, Maricela’s life has been reduced to a statistic of domestic violence due to the alleged actions of her husband, Baltazar Perez-Estrada.”

Perez-Estrada's last known location was in Mexico, before allegedly entered the U.S. without legal paperwork about two weeks ago, authorities said. They added that he's also been charged with "alien inadmissibility and given a future court date."

Perez-Estrada, who was denied pre-trial release during a court appearance on April 4, is set to be arraigned on April 25, per authorities. Court records show he has been appointed a public defender. Plea information was not available in online records.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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