Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Houston, TX:Man charged in pregnant woman's stabbing death

A 19-year-old man has been accused in the stabbing death of a pregnant woman whose body was discovered in a ditch in west Houston last year.

Authorities are looking for Joseph Mike Devia, of Houston, who is charged with capital murder in the August 2010 death of Omoyeme Obehi Erazua, according to a complaint filed in the case by the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

The complaint states Devia knew Erazua was pregnant at the time of her death and DNA testing determined he appears to be the unborn child's father.

Erazua's body was discovered in the 10500 block of Richmond about 10:50 a.m. Aug. 22, 2010. An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed about 20 times in her neck. She was in the late first or early second trimester of her pregnancy with a boy.

Investigators later determined Erazua had been staying at the Mission of Yahweh women's shelter days before her death and that she had left the facility on Aug. 21 in the company of several men. She telephoned the mission later that night saying that she was stranded in Galveston.

The complaint states a cell phone was in a purse found with her body. Investigators discovered records of calls and text messages on the phone between Erazua and Devia that indicate he believed he was her unborn child's father. They also indicate he wanted her to have an abortion, but she had refused.

In June 2011, investigators interviewed Devia about the case and he denied knowing Erazua very well, according to the complaint. He said he had not see her on Aug. 21, or Aug. 22 or for two months previously. He told them, however, she called him the night before the body was discovered. She told him she was downtown and asked him to pick her up. He told her to go to St. Joseph hospital and he would pick her up there. When he got to the hospital, he didn't find her.

Police took a DNA sample from Devia. When it was analyzed, the sample indicated blood found on clothes Erazua was wearing when her body was discovered appeared to match Devia's, the complaint states. The sample also revealed that it was 99.9 percent certain he was the father of Erazua's unborn boy.

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