Redwood City: Prosecutors say man stabbed his child’s mother, her daughter
REDWOOD CITY, CA — Prosecutors say a 44-year-old man who had already violated a court order by moving into an apartment next to the mother of his child was formally charged with murder after a violent outburst killed her and hospitalized her daughter.
The wounded teenager spoke publicly on an online fundraiser in an attempt to seek help in the face of family tragedy in a brief, harrowing account of the stabbing that left her hospitalized and killed her mother.
Yenifer Lopez, 17, wrote on GoFundMe in both English and Spanish that her mother’s life was “ended out of jealousy” on July 30.Jose Uriarte-Martinez, 44, stabbed Lopez and fatally attacked her mother, Yesenia Lopez-Hernandez, in their Redwood City home on Sunday, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
Uriarte-Martinez was arrested around 12:30 a.m. after police discovered the bloodied man outside an apartment building on the 3200 block of Fair Oaks Avenue. Uriarte-Martinez is charged with four felonies: murder, attempted murder, child abuse, and burglary. He was charged on Tuesday.
Uriarte-Martinez and Lopez-Hernandez had been in a relationship for about five years and had a 5-year-old son, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. The couple had divorced and were living apart, with Uriarte-Martinez on felony probation for a domestic violence conviction against Lopez-Hernandez in 2022.
Prosecutors claimed that both parties were violating a 10-year no-contact order that had been in effect since the conviction because Uriarte-Martinez lived in the apartment next door to his former partner. In addition, he faces a misdemeanor charge of contempt of court for violating the order.
According to San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, the defendant entered the victim’s apartment early Sunday morning with a key and a kitchen knife, shortly after learning that Lopez-Martinez planned to relocate the two children further north on the Peninsula. He then repeatedly stabbed her in the chest, neck, and shoulder. When paramedics arrived, she was alive and bleeding on the floor, but she was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.
Lopez, Lopez-Hernandez’s 17-year-old daughter, was also stabbed in the chest in a desperate attempt to help her mother, according to the online fundraiser. Lopez, according to Wagstaffe, has been completely cooperative with investigators throughout the investigation.
“Right now, I’m in the hospital recovering from several wounds caused by a knife by the same person who killed my mother when I (tried) to defend her,” Lopez wrote on the online fundraising page.
According to prosecutors, Uriarte-Martinez entered his son’s bedroom after stabbing both victims and apologized to the 5-year-old.
Lopez stated in the fundraiser that her young brother is now her responsibility, and that all donations will go toward the newfound expense changes in her life, as well as the repatriation of her mother’s body. As of Thursday morning, the GoFundMe campaign had raised approximately $15,000 of the $20,000 goal. Anyone who wants to contribute to the fundraiser can do so at
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On Tuesday, Uriarte-Martinez pleaded not guilty to all five criminal charges. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 8, when a preliminary hearing date will be set. He is currently being held in custody on no bail and has been ordered not to contact his son or Lopez.
