An Alabama woman has been arrested for allegedly shooting her partner and dismembering him with a chainsaw while their four-year-old child was present. Joselina Elizabeth Lopez, 26, has been charged with the intentional murder of Benito Morales Guzman, 41, after cops found his "dismembered and decapitated" body at a home in Slocomb on August 27.
The desperate search for Guzman was launched after his employer reported him missing last week, leading authorities to visit the home he shared with Lopez. Upon arrival, deputies noticed a "strong odor of decomposition" coming from a nearby Toyota Corolla filled with garbage bags. Officers started searching the area and soon made the grim discovery.
Horrific Murder
Cops soon came across "a body, believed to be that of Benita Morales Guzman,, dismembered into multiple pieces," according to AL.com. Detectives soon uncovered that the suspect had recently bought four electric chainsaws from Lowe's, returning one of them afterward.
"The chainsaw found in the vehicle still had human flesh on it," arrest records read.
A revolver was found in the house, with five of its six cartridges fired from it. Two bullets were recovered from Guzman's body.
Currently, SBI investigators believe that the suspect shot Guzman five times, dismembered his body into nearly 15 pieces using a chainsaw, and then placed the remains in trash bags, which were stored in the car's trunk and back seat.
Prosecutors and investigators suspect that the couple's autistic child was present during the alleged murder. Authorities also believe the suspect was planning to flee to Mexico after discovering a car seat, a packed diaper bag, the child's birth certificate, and Lopez's passport in another vehicle.
"Further, blood was found on the box of baby formula in the diaper bag," court records said.
No Escaping Law
Lopez is currently held at the Geneva County Jail, where she reportedly told a relative over the phone, "I should have left earlier."
During a bond hearing, she claimed she acted in self-defense, stating that she and her family were "threatened because Guzman supposedly owed someone money for drugs," according to WDHN.
Lopez also told the court that the victim had been trying to isolate her from her family.
Jennifer Wilkerson, Guzman's ex-wife, debunked Lopez's claim as "unbelievable," and said that he would never try to separate her from her family. "I knew she was going to say something like that. It's just unreal; it's like she doesn't care in the world about what happened.
"To hear all of that what she did to him like that- it sickens me to my stomach. He didn't deserve any of that. I mean, she already shot him five times. What else did she plan on doing here?
"Benito would never do anything like that. He was not that type of person; he would avoid it if something happened. He wouldn't argue with nobody.
"He deserves justice, and I believe I'm the one to stand up for him because if anybody knows him, it's me. I lived with him, and justice has to be served. He's not here, so someone has to stand up for him," she said.
Lopez's next court hearing is set for September 11.
