A 24-year-old Kyle woman has been charged in connection to the stabbing death of her 5-year-old daughter on Thursday afternoon.
Hays County Jail records state Krystle Villanueva was charged with capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
On Wednesday, March 15, a Hays County grand jury issued an indictment against Villanueva for both charges.
"I've been in this line of work for over 43 years, 11 years as a homicide attack up in Travis. This is one of the worst cases I've ever seen, been a part of. It's probably the most horrific case in the history of Hays County. It's very sad," explained Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler.
The Hays County Sheriff's Office said they received a call around 12:50 p.m. Jan. 5 regarding an assault at a home along Willow Terrace in the Green Pastures subdivision.
The first officer on the scene found a 58-year-old Hispanic male with multiple stab wounds. He was identified as Villanueva's father-in-law, Eustorgio Arellano-Uresti. He told the officer that Villanueva had stabbed him and that she was inside of his house with her 5-year-old daughter, who may also be injured.
SWAT team arrived at the residence shortly after 2 p.m. They entered the house and found the 5-year-old girl dead.
The child was identified as Giovanna Larae Hernandez. Sheriff Gary Cutler said they are in contact with her father.
According to HCSO, deputies believe that Villanueva stabbed and partially mutilated her daughter prior to stabbing Arellano-Uresti.
"We did recover a lot of evidence in that trailer, and like I said we spent a lot of time there. And we did recover some knives, but I can't go in to all our evidence," explained Sheriff Cutler.
Villanueva has had minor issues with law enforcement in the past and had only been living at Arellano-Uresti's house for about a week, Cutler said.
Arellano-Uresti was taken to an area hospital where he was treated and released.
Villanueva was taken into custody without resistance.
Friday night, KVUE spoke to Sabrine Sifuentez, who said she was friends with Villanueva for 16 years and had a close relationship with her and Hernandez.
"I was there when she was born," Sifuentez said. "I was there through everything."
Sifuentez said that losing Hernandez feels like losing a family member.
"She was a sweetheart. She loved to dance, she loved to sing," Sifuentez said. "She was just full of life like any other kid. The world is missing out on a little kid who is full of life. She was an actor. A sweet little girl. She's gone, but she'll never be forgotten."
Sifuentez said she was at work last night when she learned that Villanueva had been arrested and later charged in connection to the stabbing death of Hernandez.
"I couldn't handle it," she said. "I couldn't even stay at work the whole day because every time I see a little child come in I would tear up."
Sifuentez said she doesn't want to believe that Villanueva is capble of murder.
"People keep putting on social media that she's a bad person and a murderer, but the thing is that's not her," she said.
"She had an addiction problem and I think that should be out there," Sifuentez explained. "People, if someone wants to talk to you, you should listen to them and what they have to say because you never know, you could be saving someone else's life."
Online records at the Hays County Jail state Villanueva is being held on combined $1.1 million.
It is not yet known if drugs or alcohol played a role in the stabbing. HCSO said they should have toxicology lab results in 4-6 weeks.
Funeral arrangements for Hernandez are still pending.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.