On Thursday, September 8, 27-year-old Karina Castro was beheaded outside her home in front of her two children. The suspect is the victim’s ex-boyfriend, 33-year-old Jose Raphael Solano Landaeta, who is also the father of the victim's youngest daughter.

Witnesses notified deputies of an assault in progress at around 11:50 a.m. When deputies arrived at the scene near Magnolia Avenue and Laurel Street, they found the victim already dead.

Landaeta later returned to the scene unarmed, where he was promptly and booked into jail on suspicion of murder.

According to Adrienne Murray, a close friend of Castro, "[Karina] was putting [her children] in her car and raised her head -- and he cut her head off and her children saw everything." Murray also said that Castro sent her a text moments before her death, saying that he “was going to literally behead her if she didn't cancel the restraining order or something like that."

A GoFundMe was started by Castro’s family “in loving memory of Karina Castro” to help support her two daughters with the message:

“27 year old [sic] Karina Castro was tragically beheaded on Thursday, September 8th, 2022. 

 Her family is broken hearted by her gruesome murder. She leaves behind two beautiful daughters ages 1 and 7. 

Please help lessen the financial burden so that the Castro family can focus on healing.”

By Connor Ku