Hayward man charged in wife’s fatal stabbing

Alameda County prosecutors charged a 40yearold Hayward man Friday with murdering his wife in front of their daughter, officials said.

Elmer Ugarte was arrested Tuesday after police found his wife, 38yearold Maria Hernandez, stabbed to death at 5:40 p.m. on the 24000 block of Willimet Way, according to Hayward police. Ugarte and Hernandez have two children: an 11yearold daughter and a 12yearold son, according to prosecutors.

That afternoon, Ugarte was home with their daughter when Hernandez called and told her to lock her bedroom door because her father was intoxicated, according to court documents.

Hernandez arrived home with her son but left him in the car. She went inside to tell her daughter to gather her belongings to go to her grandparents’ house.

Ugarte called out to Hernandez from the bedroom. When his wife walked down the hallway toward him, he stabbed her “multiple times” and continued stabbing her after she fell to the ground, court documents show.

Ugarte then washed the knife and his hands, prosecutors allege. He fled the scene in his car, leaving his children. The 11yearold, who wit

nessed the stabbing, called 911. Hayward police and fire officials responded to the scene and pronounced Hernandez dead.

Ugarte called a family member and said he had stabbed his wife. Police found and arrested him in Mountain View. Officials conducted a search warrant at the Hayward home, where they found a large kitchen knife with apparent blood on it.

The Alameda County district attorney’s office charged Ugarte with murder and child endangerment. He is being held at Santa Rita Jail.

The killing was Hayward’s third homicide of 2020.