A Tucson mother of six was sentenced to 21 years in prison Monday for repeatedly stabbing a pregnant woman and the woman's daughter last year.
In Pima County Superior Court, Judge Jane Eikleberry sentenced Yesenia Sosa Hernandez, 31, after listening to details of the May 25 attack. She pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Julia Rodriguez, 34, told Eikleberry through a Spanish-speaking interpreter that she met Hernandez a few days before the attack at an obstetrician's office, and Hernandez, who also was pregnant, offered to give her clothes and furniture for her unborn son.
On the morning of May 25, Hernandez came to her home, Rodriguez said.
She was helping her 2-year-old daughter in the bathroom when she heard her 13-year-old daughter, Genesis, begin screaming, Rodriguez said. When she walked out, she saw Hernandez stabbing her daughter.
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When she ran to help her daughter, Hernandez stabbed her repeatedly about the face and head, Rodriguez said. She forced Hernandez to drop the knife, but Hernandez grabbed another knife after first trying to strangle her, Rodriguez added.
Throughout the attack, Hernandez kept screaming, "I'm going to kill you guys, and no one is going to help you!" Rodriguez said. She began biting Hernandez's knife hand while maneuvering her away from the front door, Rodriguez said.
When Hernandez got far enough away from the door, Rodriguez said she screamed for her daughter to run and get help, and then Rodriguez ran out the door too.
When Rodriguez got outside, she fell down a flight of stairs, but then got up and ran for help as well. Because of the trauma of the attack and the fall, Rodriguez said she almost lost her unborn child.
Genesis Compean told the judge that s he was listening to music and playing a game on her iPod when Hernandez suddenly attacked her.
The teen suffered knife wounds in her arm, face and finger. The cornea of her right eye was scratched and its sclera torn.
Rodriguez suffered lengthy cuts in her left cheek and scalp.
Hernandez told a probation officer that on the day of the attack, she had been arguing with her boyfriend through text messages, and she "snapped" when Rodriguez asked her what was wrong.
Eikleberry imposed an aggravated sentence, noting the number of victims involved and the extreme physical and emotional harm they suffered.
While Rodriguez's unborn baby survived the incident, Hernandez miscarried at five months in the Pima County jail.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
