LIHUE — The Eleele man charged with attempting to kill his pregnant girlfriend behind an Eleele Big Save pleaded not guilty Thursday. Christopher Cruz, 33, appeared before District Court Judge Jonathan Chun and waived oral reading of his charges. His
LIHUE — The Eleele man charged with attempting to kill his pregnant girlfriend behind an Eleele Big Save pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Christopher Cruz, 33, appeared before District Court Judge Jonathan Chun and waived oral reading of his charges. His preliminary hearing was set for Monday.
He is charged with eight counts, which include attempted murder in the second degree, kidnapping, abuse of family or household members, terroristic threatening in the second degree, reckless endangering in the second degree and driving without a license.
Cruz’s girlfriend was rushed to the Wilcox Memorial Hospital’s emergency room Sunday afternoon and had to have an emergency cesarean, according to the police report.
According to the report, doctors said the victim lost a lot of blood, and the one-to-two-inch puncture wound needed to be operated on immediately. Doctors told police the knife had ruptured her uterus and might have harmed her unborn baby.
The 28-week old male baby survived the operation for 30 minutes, but died after resuscitation attempts failed, police said.
The stabbing victim’s mother, who did not want to give her name, told The Garden Island Wednesday that the 18-year-old was “strong” and “doing OK.”
“She’s feeling good now,” she said.
Kauai police said Cruz was stopped for a traffic violation around 2 p.m. Sunday as he was parked behind the Eleele Big Save in a four-door gold sedan. Passengers included his 2-year-old daughter and his pregnant girlfriend.
Shortly after police cited Cruz and left, he and his girlfriend got into a verbal fight that escalated quickly, police said. During the fight, Cruz pulled out a knife and stabbed his girlfriend while holding his daughter, police said in their report.
The girl ran toward the front of Big Save requesting help, while Cruz fled on foot still carrying his daughter, according to police.
Big Save Assistant Director Celeste Davis said she responded to the call for help.
“I heard yelling, so I ran out there,” Davis said. “There a guy was on the phone. He mentioned that he needed assistance. That the girl got stabbed. He was talking to 911.”
Witnesses say they saw the victim lying on the ground covered in blood.
Davis said she didn’t see Cruz, but heard he was carrying his daughter. She saw the man calling 911 and two ladies rendering aid to the stabbing victim.
Still in shock and wearing shorts and a plaid shirt, the victim was applying pressure to the wound at the right side of her stomach, Davis said. She wasn’t crying even though blood was running down her leg, she said.
“One of the ladies gave her a jacket to tie around her waist to keep blood from coming out,” Davis said.
“It was one of those things that you never thought would happen,” she said.
The two-year-old daughter who witnessed the stabbing is fine, the victim’s mother said.
When police arrived, they found the sedan door open with items scattered about and “a puddle of a red substance that resembled blood,” police said.
Police said in their report that one witness told them he had seen Cruz. The report says the witness identified Cruz by the color of his shirt and pointed them toward the highway.
Police arrested Cruz Sunday at a home on Ulupua Road in Eleele. Bail was set at $100,000.
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Michelle Iracheta, cops and courts reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or miracheta@thegardenisland.com. Follow Michelle on Twitter @cephira
