Winston-Salem, NC: Man guilty in wife's stabbing death

On Nov. 3, 2008, Alfredo Garza Ayala’s 3-year-old son tried to stop him as he stabbed his wife to death in the home they shared on Chestnut Trail, a prosecutor said in Forsyth Superior Court on Thursday.

As Linda Nelly Munoz-Rivera lay dying, she managed to tell her 7-year-old daughter to call 911, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin said.

When Winston-Salem police officers arrived, they found Munoz-Rivera, a 42-year-old preschool teacher, dead with three stab wounds to her chest, one to her face and one in her back. Her lungs had filled with blood because of the stab wounds.

Ayala, 41, of 108 Chestnut Trail, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder and two counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious emotional injury. Judge Todd Burke sentenced him to 28 years and five months to 36 years and seven months in prison.

Police had initially charged Ayala with first-degree murder, but Martin agreed to a plea deal to spare the two children, now ages 10 and 6, from testifying in court, she said.

“It would be too traumatic and cause setbacks for the kids to come back and testify,” Martin said in court.

The Rev. Spencer Swain, pastor of Grace Lower Stone Church in Rockwell, said Munoz-Rivera dedicated her life to God and to teaching and serving others. Hundreds of former preschool students came to her funeral, he said.

“She was truly a treasure chest of love walking around,” he said.

According to Martin, Ayala and Munoz-Rivera had an argument on the day of her death. Their children were in the other room, but they came out when they heard their mother yelling for Ayala to stop hitting her.

Then, Ayala started stabbing Munoz-Rivera, and her son grabbed Ayala to make him stop, Martin said. Munoz-Rivera told her daughter to call 911, which she did.

When police arrived, they found Ayala at the computer, and the two children had blood on them, Martin said. Ayala took a knife and tried to cut his throat, but his self-inflicted injury was only minor. He was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where he took a blood alcohol test. His level was 0.40 percent, well above the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent.

David Botchin, an attorney for Ayala, said his client suffers from brain damage. No one knows when or how the damage occurred, he said.

Richard Ramsey, also a defense attorney, said Ayala attempted suicide because he was remorseful.

“He stands before you and knows he should be punished,” Ramsey said.

Polly Munoz, Munoz-Rivera’s sister, said after the hearing that the children are still coping with their mother’s death. They see a psychiatrist regularly and have been adopted by their maternal grandmother.

At night, they have flashbacks of what happened, she said.

The family, she said, wanted to make sure the children didn’t go through any more trauma.

“The only thing we wanted was for the kids to not come to court,” Munoz-Rivera said.