N.J. woman accused of fatally beating wife with wine chiller captured in Texas
A woman who authorities say fatally beat her wife with a wine chiller inside their New Jersey apartment last weekend has been captured in Texas.
Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus, 48, was arrested Wednesday in Houston, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and Brick Township Police announced in a joint statement.
"It is our understanding that Gavilanez-Alectus traveled to Houston, from New York City by bus," Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in the statement.
She was arrested by members of the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Houston Police Department.
Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus is charged with murder and two weapons offenses in the slaying of Rebecca Gavilanez-Alectus, 32.
Police in Brick Township, about 50 miles east of Trenton, found the lifeless body of Rebecca Gavilanez-Alectus in a bedroom when they responded Sunday to a report of an unresponsive female.
An autopsy determined that she was killed with a "cylindrical container used for the purpose of chilling wine," and her death was ruled a homicide. Authorities have not said what prompted the attack or what led them to believe Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus was responsible for it.
Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus praised her partner in a Facebook post on Mother's Day, writing in Spanish, "I love you. Today, tomorrow and always."
She is being held in the Harris County Jail pending extradition to Ocean County.
