A suspect is in custody after allegedly stabbing his cheerleader ex-girlfriend to death in his California home just days before Christmas.
Angelina Camillia Gonzales, 17, was discovered with multiple stab wounds at a residence in Azusa, California, on Friday night.
Her family stated that the teen’s ex-boyfriend picked her up from a cheerleading banquet on December 20 and drove her back to his home.
Officers with the Azusa Police Department responded to the 300 block of North Soldano Avenue around 10 p.m. that night to discover the bloody crime scene. The teen was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Gonzales’ stepfather, Robert Caraballo, showed up to the gruesome scene shortly afterward. He told KABC that their family was concerned when she did not return home and that he was able to track her cell phone location to what they believe is her ex-boyfriend’s home.
“When I got there, there was already crime scene tape up and forensics and all kinds of stuff,” Caraballo said in response. “And I ran up to the officers and said, ‘Hey, my daughter’s in there. You see, my daughter is in there. I am trying to find her. She isn’t home. And that’s when they told me to sit down for a minute.”
Caraballo explained that he told his step-daughter several times to avoid her ex-boyfriend, but she had a “really big heart and always saw the good in him.”
Police have not identified the suspect, but they have confirmed that he is the victim’s 18-year-old acquaintance and an Azusa resident.
The suspect is now in custody, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau is handling the investigation, which is being reviewed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Fox News Digital that he will be arraigned Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the victim’s heartbroken family must deal with an unimaginable loss just days before Christmas.
Her family has started a GoFundMe page to help pay for her funeral. According to the page, the teen would have been 18 on January 7.
“She was looking forward to that,” Caraballo said. “I’m broken right now, I’m not going to lie to you, because the little bit of time that I had with her, I can’t even.”
The teen was passionate about cheerleading, but she had also recently joined the wrestling team and won her first match.
“She was practicing at home and wanted to join another stunt team. Caraballo continued, “And that was like her heart cheering for a long time.”
Her mother, Letica Carabello, wrote on the GoFundMe page, which had raised nearly $17,000 as of Tuesday morning, that her daughter had a heart of gold.
“She had such an exciting future ahead of her. She had a heart of gold. “She was my perfect, beautiful Angel baby,” her mother wrote. “I don’t even know what to say. I can’t even cope. I need her. “Our family is devastated.
Her brother, Ruben Torres, told KABC that his sister was “bubbly, happy, funny, and always cracking jokes.”
“It’s unreal, like just the fact that you know, anyone could bring themselves to harm just such a sweet and loving, funny person,” he told me. “Always tell your family and anyone you know that you love them. Let them know how proud you are of them.