Woman stabbed boyfriend to death in Miami Gardens, cops say. But was it self-defense?
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A woman was jailed after police say she confessed to stabbing the father of her child to death in an attack caught on camera. It marks the final chapter in a documented history of domestic violence between the couple.
On Sunday afternoon, Miami Gardens officers hurried to the 3800 block Northwest 177th Street after hearing a violent dispute on an open phone line. They found Kaity Elese Maldonado, 31, out in the driveway on her knees — and covered in blood.
There also was a blood-stained kitchen butcher knife to her left, police say. Unprompted, Maldonado began talking to herself.
“He attacked me, and I stabbed him. I stabbed him,” she said, according to a police report. “I stabbed him at least 13 times.”
Officers went inside the home, where they found a man on the kitchen floor lying in a pool of blood. The woman told investigators that he needed an ambulance because she thought she had stabbed him in the neck.
Shortly thereafter, he was airlifted to Aventura Hospital, where he died. Maldonado was arrested and is now behind held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond on a second-degree murder charge.
‘Why are you doing this?’
A witness recorded the scuffle that escalated when Maldonado repeatedly stabbed her on-again-off-again boyfriend in the Miami Gardens home they shared. The witness, whose relation to the couple is unclear, told detectives she didn’t know why they were fighting.
But this wasn’t their first violent altercation, as their years-long relationship was marred by chaos.
The witness overheard the fight — and police say she took her cellphone out to record. She detailed how Maldonado ranted about her boyfriend trying to choke and bite her. Moments later, the man shouted: “Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this? Please stop.”
The video caught Maldonado threatening to pull out a knife and saying she didn’t “give a f--k,” according to the report. Maldonado’s boyfriend tried to yank the blade from her when she began to jab at him.
A volatile relationship
In June 2023, Maldonado filed a domestic violence case in Broward against 35-year-old Lazaro Torres, whose address is listed as the scene of the stabbing, court records show. Maldonado and Torres, who met in 2019, share a 2-year-old child.
In the petition, Maldonado alleged that her live-in boyfriend made a slew of harassing phone calls and threatening voicemails. She also pointed out a dispute during which Torres threw something at her face while she was driving on the Rickenbacker Causeway, according to the filing.
That caused her to pull over — and a drunk Torres tried to throw her phone out the window, the petition says. He then grabbed her car keys, tossed them out, ripped the mirror and wiper off the car and tried to shatter a window until police arrived.
Their toddler son — and Maldonado’s 8-year-old son — were inside the vehicle at the time, court records say. Maldonado also stated that Torres had threatened her mother and family, showing up at their home without permission.
According to Maldonado’s petition, Torres struggled with mental health as well as drug and alcohol issues. In the filing, she described being trapped in a car with him while he drove drunk.
In July 2022, Torres was charged with a DUI in Monroe County, though the charge was reduced to reckless driving. Maldonado is listed as a witness to the incident on Torres’ arrest report, court records indicate.
“He is a danger to himself and everyone around him,” Maldonado said in the domestic violence filing.
History of domestic violence issues?
In 2021, Torres was charged with misdemeanor stalking in Broward due to the harassing messages. Maldonado contacted Miramar police in July of that year regarding the non-stop phone calls, which started after they broke up for a period of time, a police report states.
She told police that she tried to block his number, but he bombarded her with messages from different phone numbers, according to the report. Torres sent threatening texts about wanting her dead — and she began to fear for her life.
“Back in 2021, the whole year it was a battle,” Maldonado said in the petition. “He kept me from leaving his house and has gotten physical with me on 4 diff occasions.”
The couple’s tumultuous romance was no stranger to law enforcement, records show. In the petition, Maldonado said she had previously reported domestic violence to Miami-Dade police.
In the arrest report, a Miramar police officer wrote: “It should be noted that there is a history of domestic related issues between the victim and the defendant.”
Maldonado requested that a judge dismiss the domestic violence injunction because she wanted to build a relationship with Torres and wanted to do so without tension or restrictions, according to court records.
She also reported feeling safe enough “where I know when to stay away.”
Broward prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor in April 2022. Court records indicate that Maldonado requested that the case not move forward.
Despite being subpoenaed, Maldonado didn’t show up on the day of the trial, a memo filed by the prosecutor reveals. She also stated she didn’t want to “keep reliving the moments of the offense over and over again.”
“Based on lack of victim cooperation the State could not move forward with the case,” the memo notes.
In September 2022, Torres was also charged with misdemeanor battery related to a domestic violence incident in Miami-Dade. The victim in the case was Torres’ mother, who told police that he pulled her hair after a day of drinking.
According to a police report, Torres’ mother reported that she left the home with his toddler — and that he becomes “aggressive and abusive” whenever he drinks.
Court records indicate that Torres’ mother didn’t wish to cooperate, so prosecutors chose not to pursue formal charges.
This story was originally published March 27, 2024 at 9:53 AM.
