Teen charged with stabbing 2 will stay in jail, judge decides

16-year old wounded half-sister, 5, and grandmother, police say

A judge decided to hold a teenager behind bars weeks after police say he stabbed his 5-year-old halfsister and grandmother at the family’s northeast Albuquerque home.

Devon Bentacu, 16, is charged with two counts of aggravated battery on a household member with great bodily harm, child abuse, tampering with evidence, aggravated burglary and breaking and entering.

Police say Bentacu stabbed his two relatives — critically injuring both — before fleeing the home and breaking into two separate houses in the neighborhood before officers caught him.

According to a statement of probable cause filed in children’s court, officers responded to a home in the 2900 block of Sierra NE, near Candelaria and Washington, on the afternoon of June 12 after Bentacu called 911 to say “someone just came into his house and murdered his family.”

Police say the teen’s grandmother, Gloria Bentacu, called soon after to report that her grandson had stabbed her and the young girl.

According to police, arriving officers found the grandmother and 5-year-old girl at the home, both with “multiple stab wounds” to the neck and upper

body. Both were rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

At the home, police say, they found kitchen knives and a bent fork covered with blood and a pile of bloody clothes in the backyard and alley behind the house.

According to police, that’s when they received calls of two break-ins around the neighborhood.

Police say Bentacu broke into a home a few blocks away, armed himself with a kitchen knife and swung it at the homeowner.

According to police, Bentacu fled to another home in the area shortly after and kicked in the door.

“Bentacu confronted an elderly woman who was asleep on the couch and asked her to give him a hug,” an officer wrote.

Police say officers showed up at the home just as Bentacu ran into the backyard and began “walking in a circle” and ignoring officers’ commands to get on the ground.

According to police, Bentacu tried to get back into the home and an officer shot him with a bean-bag round, then took him into custody.

At the hospital, Bentacu’s mother told police the grandmother was cooking in the kitchen when the attack occurred.

Police say Bentacu grabbed a hot pan and when the 5-year-old girl asked him “what he was doing” he hit her in the face with the pan before stabbing both relatives around 10 times each.

“After the attack had stopped, (the grandmother) said she asked Bentacu to call for help,” an officer wrote.