Related videos:
A Cuban woman was arrested this Thursday in Hialeah accused of violently assaulting her partner and attempting to erase the crime scene afterward.
The woman, identified as Ailin Vargas Ginarte, 42 years old, faces charges of aggravated assault with serious bodily harm and tampering with evidence, according to local media and police reports.
The early hours of the attack
Everything happened around 5:00 a.m. in a residential complex located at 1855 West and 56th Street in Hialeah.
Police Department agents from the city responded to the location after receiving an emergency call.
Upon arriving at the scene, they found a man lying next to the stairs, bleeding profusely from a deep head wound.
"He was covered in blood; when the officers arrived, they found him and noticed that he had quite a large wound on his head. He stated that it was caused by a fight with his girlfriend," said Eddie Rodríguez, spokesperson for the Hialeah Police, in a statement to the local press.
The victim was treated by paramedics and transported to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
There, he reiterated to the authorities that his partner had assaulted him and that, before the police arrived, she threatened to kill him: “she told me she would kill me if they arrested her,” he testified.
A trail of blood and contradictory versions
The officers followed a trail of blood to apartment 315, where they found Vargas Ginarte.
The woman appeared agitated and provided several contradictory accounts of what had happened.
Initially, she claimed that her boyfriend was drunk and that she didn't want to let him in. Later, she changed her story, without providing a coherent explanation of what happened.
Inside the apartment, the agents found a scene that raised suspicions: broken glass on the floor, partially cleaned blood stains, a bucket with soapy water in the kitchen, and a strong smell of bleach.
During the court hearing, Judge Mindy S. Glazer noted that Vargas Ginarte was caught cleaning up blood from the floor at the time the police arrived. The defendant broke down in tears throughout the entire appearance.
Key images and background information
A surveillance video obtained by Noticias 23 and also reported by Telemundo 51 shows Ailin Vargas Ginarte walking down the hallway of the building with garbage bags shortly after the attack, accidentally dropping a glass bottle, a detail that authorities consider key to the evidence regarding the alleged tampering of the crime scene.
The Prosecutor's Office reported that Vargas Ginarte already had a record for a similar incident, in which he assaulted an ex-partner and also ended up sending her to the hospital, according to a report by Univisión Miami.
Reactions and context
Residents of the residential complex told the media that this kind of incident is not uncommon in the building.
A resident who preferred to remain anonymous told NBC6 that they heard the victim's cries for help.
Vargas Ginarte was arrested and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
He faces two charges: aggravated assault with serious bodily injury and tampering with physical evidence.
During the initial hearing, Judge Glazer set a total bail of $10,000, with $7,500 for the charge of aggravated assault and $2,500 for the charge of tampering with evidence.
The woman was ordered to stay away from the victim and to leave the shared residence.
At the end of this note, the accused is no longer listed in the prison records, suggesting that she has already paid the bail.
Filed under: