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Man charged in Route 30 hotel stabbing that killed woman, unborn child
YORK, Pa., Mar 30, 2012 (York Daily Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
As Olga Vascones-Garcia stood bleeding to death in the lobby of the Super 8 Motel Thursday afternoon, she held out her arm and wrapped it around her 5-year-old daughter, according to court documents.
Vascones-Garcia, 24, and the unborn child she was carrying were both pronounced dead a short time later, the victims of a stabbing that police say was at the hands of Wilkins Gerard Marte-Escano.
Marte-Escano, 28, of the 700 block of South Court Avenue, turned himself in to city police late Thursday night and was charged Friday with one count each of criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child. He remains in York County Prison with no bail.
Charging documents filed by Northern York County Regional Police against Marte-Escano depict a gruesome scene in which Marte-Escano can be seen on surveillance video chasing Vascones-Garcia in and out of the Manchester Township motel's lobby with a knife as their young daughter watches.
The video, which has no sound, shows Vascones-Garcia entering and exiting view shortly after 3 p.m., each time with a growing amount of blood visible on her chest, charging documents state. When she last emerges from a lobby bathroom, she can be seen pounding on the front desk bell, her chest covered in blood.
Marte-Escano can be seen wiping a knife on his pants as he exits the motel through the front door, charging documents state.
The hotel's manager, who was in a private bathroom at the time of the attack, told police he heard a commotion in the lobby of the motel located on Route 30. When he emerged, Vascones-Garcia could be seen in the video stepping back from the desk and staggering before falling to the floor, court documents state.
Officers who arrived on the scene observed blood on the sidewalk, exterior of the front door, the front desk and carpet leading to a lobby bathroom.
Vascones-Garcia was transported to York Hospital where it was discovered that she was 19 weeks pregnant. She was pronounced dead around 4:48 p.m., charging documents state. Her male child was delivered with a measurable heartbeat but was unable to breathe on his own. He was pronounced dead at 5:06 p.m.
During an investigation at the motel, police found a passport belonging to Marte-Escano in a room the couple was sharing. Marte-Escano, who has connections to both York and New York City, is a resident of Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean, Lt. David Lash with Northern York County Regional Police said Thursday.
When interviewed by investigators, the 5-year-old girl found in the lobby of the motel told police that Vascones-Garcia was her mother and said that her father, Marte-Escano, had stabbed her mother, court documents state. While viewing the surveillance video, the child identified the man seen as her father, documents state.
York County District Attorney Tom Kearney said they believe the couple had been arguing over paternity issues, but "it hadn't been nailed down yet."
The little girl was placed in protective custody, he added, while Children, Youth and Family Services tries to locate maternal family members.
After several hours of searching, Marte-Escano turned himself into York City Police around 11 p.m. Thursday. City police, the York County District Attorney's Office, the United States Marshall's Office and the Department of Homeland Security assisted Northern Regional in the search.
Read earlier reports here.
___ (c)2012 York Daily Record (York, Pa.) Visit York Daily Record (York, Pa.)
at www.ydr.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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