An El Paso woman who was fired as her mother's caretaker allegedly fatally stabbed the new caretaker "for unknown reasons," police and court documents state.
Officers arrested Shaloni Mariah Wallace, 35, on suspicion of murder in connection with the Tuesday, Aug. 25, fatal stabbing of April Marie Flores, 36, at the Patriot Palms apartment complex in the 4900 block of Sean Haggerty Drive in Northeast El Paso, police spokesperson Officer Adrian Cisneros said in a news release.
No attorney is listed for Wallace in court records.
El Paso Police Department officers responded to a report of a stabbing about 11:20 a.m. at the Northeast apartment complex.
Officers found Flores lying on a sidewalk between two buildings in the complex. She had multiple stab
wounds to her torso, a complaint affidavit states. She was taken to University Medical Center of El Paso, where she later died from her injuries.
Flores was Wallace's mother's new caretaker. Wallace and her mother lived in the same apartment complex, but in different apartments.
Trail of blood leads to El Paso murder suspect
A maintenance worker told officers that he heard a scream and saw Flores walking toward him with her head down, grabbing onto her chest with blood all over her. He ran to his supervisor, telling him to call 911 because someone had been stabbed.
The worker went back to help Flores when he saw Wallace walking toward another apartment. He claimed he saw Wallace carrying a large knife in her hands near her stomach. The knife appeared to be "covered in blood and the blood to be dripping on the ground," the worker told officers.
Officers found a blood trail and followed it to Wallace's front porch. The officers knocked on Wallace's door. She opened it, but "upon seeing that it was the police she immediately shut the door," the affidavit states.
The officers made a forced entry into the apartment and took Wallace into custody. Officers noticed another apartment door open and saw blood inside. The apartment belonged to Wallace's mother.
El Paso murder suspect allegedly suddenly attacks caretaker
Officers found Wallace's mother inside the apartment. The mother told officers that Flores had been working as her caretaker for about two weeks. She added that Wallace was previously her caretaker, but "she had to let her go because she was not doing a good job," the affidavit states.
Flores came to the apartment about 9:20 a.m., while Wallace came over at about 10:45 a.m., the mother told police.
She added that Wallace and Flores did not know each other and "everything seemed fine initially," the affidavit states.
Wallace "all of a sudden" attacked Flores, "hitting" her multiple times for an unknown reason, the mother said.
The mother told officers that she did not see her daughter with a knife during the attack, but saw some blood by the living room and her apartment's front doorway.
Officers interviewed several other witnesses who tried to aid Flores. No specific details are given about what the witnesses said, with the affidavit only stating, "they further reported that the decedent (Flores) stated to them that the defendant (Wallace) was the one who had stabbed her."
Investigators viewed the apartment complex's surveillance cameras. The videos showed Wallace walking near where Flores was found. Wallace allegedly had an "elongated object consistent with the shape (of) a knife in her left hand," the affidavit states.
No motive given in fatal El Paso stabbing
Wallace told investigators that she went to her mother's apartment that day but "could not state why," the affidavit states.
Officers asked Wallace if anyone else was inside the apartment. She initially said no, but later said "possibly." Investigators saw "what seems as suspected blood" on Wallace's shirt.
No motive was given in the affidavit as to why Wallace allegedly stabbed Flores.
Wallace was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into the El Paso County jail on Wednesday, Aug. 26. She is being held without bond. A bond hearing set for Thursday, Aug. 27, was canceled, court records show.
'Our family is heartbroken'
Flores' family created a GoFundMe account to raise money to pay for her funeral and other expenses. Flores' "life was tragically taken far too soon," her sister Ashley Flores wrote on the fundraising page.
"Our family is heartbroken and trying to navigate an unimaginable loss," Ashley Flores wrote.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Fired as mom's caretaker, El Paso woman accused of killing replacement
