A man has been charged with murder for allegedly fatally stabbing his girlfriend after he became enraged over her new haircut.
Benjamin Gual, 49, from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has been accused of plunging a kitchen knife into the torso of mom Carmen Martinez-Silva, 50, then stabbing her brother, Luis, and attempting to attack two more witnesses, according to court documents.
When police arrived in the front yard of Luis’ mobile home in East Hempfield Township on Sunday afternoon, Martinez-Silva was unresponsive. A couple of hours later, she was pronounced dead.
Authorities transported Martinez-Silva’s brother to Lancaster General Hospital after he sustained lacerations to the head, torso and arm, according to a statement from East Hempfield Township Police Department hours after the incident.
Gual now faces charges of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He is being held at the Lancaster County Prison without bail and a preliminary hearing is yet to be scheduled.
Authorities said Gual became angry after the victim’s daughter, Yamaris Knight, revealed that her mother had changed her hairstyle.
“Yamaris stated that Carmen cut her hair, which angered Benjamin,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by Law & Crime. “Carmen relayed to Yamaris that Benjamin told her that he was going to stab her over her haircut.”
The morning after staying at her daughter’s home on Saturday evening, Martinez-Silva visited her brother to ask if he would “tell Benjamin that their relationship was over,” per the complaint.
Gual arrived at Luis’ residence brandishing a knife, as he attempted to stab the brother before turning the blade towards Martinez-Silva and impaling her “multiple times throughout her body,” authorities said.
After taking swipes at two other witnesses, Gual hid out in a Toyota Corolla with his knife until authorities arrived at the scene, the complaint says.
The victim’s heart-broken family spoke out about the “devastating” tragedy.
“My beautiful mother is no longer with us. I’m sorry to those I haven’t responded to, I have no words at this time.
“The family is devastated by this loss we would’ve never imagined a tragedy like this would happened to our beloved Carmen,” the Martinez-Silva family wrote on the victim’s GoFundMe page.
The Independent has contacted East Hempfield Township Police Department and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office for more information.
