Man Stabs Girlfriend to Death After Crashing Lexus

Colin Fredericson
By Colin Fredericson
March 24, 2019US News
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Man Stabs Girlfriend to Death After Crashing Lexus
Fernando Acosta, suspected of stabbing his girlfriend to death. (Mugshot via Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)

A man driving in Arizona allegedly stabbed his girlfriend to death after he crashed a vehicle that both occupied, in the morning hours of March 22.

The driver, Fernando Acosta, stabbed victim Martha Thy about 20 times along a freeway in Peoria, Arizona, according to a probable cause statement obtained by Fox News.

Thy was stabbed both in the car, and on the ground outside of it, ABC 15 reported.

The car belonged to Thy, according to ABC 15. She was a resident of Spring Valley, California.

During the altercation, bystanders attempted to stop Acosta, including those carrying firearms.

“I ran toward the vehicle, and when I got to the other side of the ditch the man comes out with a knife. Hands full of blood. [His] face, body was filled with blood,” said Gustavo Muñoz, via ABC 15.

Muñoz further described the intense encounter.

“When I got to the other side of the ditch the guy comes out with a knife saying, ‘What the [expletive] do you want? What the [expletive] do you want?’ And the lady was in the passenger side filled with blood already,” Muñoz said, via NBC 7.

Muñoz yelled for others passing by to help.

“The guys that were there, they got their gun so we could try to scare him,” Muñoz told ABC 15. “One man fired shots at the ground to see if he would drop the knife and stop stabbing the lady that was in the vehicle.”

ABC 15 reported that someone eventually tackled Acosta and got the knife out of his hands. Others followed and restrained Acosta until police arrived.

NBC 7 reported that Acosta was shot, although if this is the case, it is not clear how many of the six reported shots hit Acosta.

“[I] put my knee on his back so he couldn’t move,” Munoz told NBC 7. “He was moving like crazy and laughing while he was doing it. That’s when we took a couple hits to his face. We got him so he can stop, but he was like ‘Do it again, do it again,’ and he was just laughing.”

Police are still investigating what part gunshots played in the altercation, AZ Family reported.

Thy died in the hospital, Fox News reported. Acosta was arrested and charged with premeditated murder in the first degree and aggravated assault resulting in serious physical injury.

Thy and Acosta were in a relationship and lived together, According to a police report obtained by AZ Family. Before the stabbing the couple was driving a white Lexus when it flew off the highway, through an embankment, and into a fence.

The couple was in an argument, although it is not clear if or how the argument is related to the crash.

“The male got out and immediately started stabbing the female,” Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper Kameron Lee said, via AZ Family.

Lee described the scene when police arrived.

“There people everywhere, some screaming, yelling going on,” Lee said, via NBC 7. “You can imagine what an officer’s feeling when he arrived on the scene and all he sees are people running around and possible fight and things like that.”

The police report states that Acosta also threatened to stab one of the witnesses, AZ Family reported.

No motive for the crime was mentioned in police reports, according to ABC 15.

Acosta’s bond was set at $1 million. He made his first court appearance on March 23, and is scheduled to appear again on March 29, AZ Family reported.

ABC 10 was able to speak with Thy’s landlord. He said he has known her family for 10 years and described Thy as a loving aunt, sister, and daughter.

He said Thy’s family was moving to Arizona to be closer to Thy’s sister, who bought a house in the area.

The landlord also said he met Acosta, who he described as a normal guy, but the landlord also said Acosta has spent time in jail, although this was not confirmed by authorities.

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