HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston police are investigating whether a man accused of stabbing his sister-in-law to death did it in retaliation for reporting his brother to police.
Greg Montelongo, 40, is charged with murder in the stabbing death of a 47-year-old woman on Wednesday. Friends identify her as Lydia Gutierrez.
It happened at a home in the 6300 block of Gay Street near the North Loop and Fulton. The woman’s 18-year-old son was also stabbed by an intruder, police say, in a ski mask.
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“He walked in, and proceeded inside, which is when he stabbed multiple people,” Houston Police Homicide Sgt. Blake Roberts said on Wednesday.
Police say the son got a gun and shot his mother’s killer, who was found a few blocks away. Once unmasked, he was identified as Montelongo.
ABC13 has learned he is the brother of the victim’s husband, and court records shed light on a possible motive.
In April, records show that Lydia Gutierrez reported to police that her husband, George Corona Sr., pulled her hair and punched her in the ribs, stomach, and legs before pointing a gun at her. Corona, 47, is a felon, with a lengthy criminal history, and it’s illegal for him to have a gun. He was arrested and charged with felon in possession of a weapon.
Investigators were told Corona was threatening her from jail, and at the end of October, someone shot at the house on Gay Street in the area where her room was.
Friends tell ABC13 that Gutierrez suffered previous abuse and that she was breaking away from her husband of 18 years.
Statistics are showing that the moment someone wants to leave the marriage is when most violent assaults happen, Amy Smith, of the Harris County Domestic Violence Council, tells ABC13.
“A high portion happen when the victim is leaving, and the reason is the abuser is losing the power and control over the victim,” Smith said.
Corona remains in jail on a $50,000 bond. Investigators are exploring whether he sent his brother, Montelongo, to silence Gutierrez.
It is not the first time he’s been charged with murder. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Montelongo was released from prison in July 2021 on parole after serving 21 years of a 45-year sentence for a murder he committed as a teen.
Gutierrez was living with her parents. She has five children. A longtime friend told ABC13, “She didn’t deserve this at all.”
“You could do everything that we as advocates tell you to. Make a safety plan. You can get a protective order. Find a safe place to stay but if that abuser is going to do something, they’re going to find a way to do it or they’re going to find someone to do it,” Smith said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s office has a list of resources for victims of domestic violence seeking help. If you, or someone you know, are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233).
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