HOUSTON, TX (KTRK) — Houston police are investigating whether a man accused of stabbing his sister-in-law to death did so in retaliation for reporting his brother to police.
Greg Montelongo, 40, is charged with murder in the stabbing death of a 47-year-old woman on Wednesday. Friends identify her as Lydia Gutierrez.
It happened at a house in the 6300 block of Gay Street, near North Loop and Fulton. The woman’s 18-year-old son was also stabbed by an intruder, police said, wearing a ski mask.
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“He walked in and went inside, that’s when he stabbed several people,” Houston Police Homicide Sgt. Blake Roberts said Wednesday.
Police say the son obtained a gun and shot his mother’s killer, who was found a few blocks away. Once unmasked, he was identified as Montelongo.
ABC13 has learned he is the brother of the victim’s husband, and court records shed light on a possible motive.
In April, records show Lydia Gutierrez reported to police that her husband, George Corona Sr., pulled her hair and punched her in the ribs, stomach and legs before pointing a gun at her. Corona, 47, is a criminal, with a long criminal history, and it is illegal for him to have a gun. He was arrested and charged with a felony possession of a weapon.
Investigators learned that Corona was threatening her with jail, and in late October someone shot at the Gay Street house in the area where her bedroom was.
Friends tell ABC13 that Gutierrez has suffered abuse before and was breaking up with her husband of 18 years.
Statistics show that when someone wants to leave the marriage is when most violent assaults happen, Amy Smith of the Harris County Domestic Violence Council told ABC13.
“A lot of it happens when the victim leaves, and the reason for that is because the abuser loses power and control over the victim,” Smith said.
Corona remains in jail on $50,000 bond. Investigators are investigating whether he sent his brother, Montelongo, to silence Gutierrez.
This is not the first time he has been charged with murder. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Montelongo was released from prison in July 2021 on parole after serving 21 years of a 45-year sentence for a murder he committed as a teenager.
Gutierrez lived with his parents. She has five children. A longtime friend told ABC13, “She didn’t deserve this at all.”
“You can do anything we as advocates tell you. Make a safety plan. You can get a protective order. Find a safe place to stay, but if that abuser has to do anything, they’ll find a place to stay. way to do it or they’re going to find someone to do it,” Smith said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has a list of resources for victims of domestic violence seeking help. If you, or someone you know, is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233).
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