Gilbert Villareal, right inset, learned his fate this week in the death of pregnant Sheila Lomes, left inset. (Screenshots via AZFamily/YouTube)
A man was sentenced in Arizona to 50 years in prison for fatally stabbing his estranged, pregnant wife and unborn child, just before their 2-year-old son found her and reportedly cried “daddy,” unaware he had been responsible before fleeing.
Gilbert Villareal, 36, learned his fate this week in the death of pregnant Sheila Lomes, 22, Maricopa County prosecutors said in a news release. Villareal also received injunctions for five lifetimes that bars him from contacting the victim’s family, including his now teenage son. Villareal had pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, both class one dangerous felonies, authorities said.
The killing happened on March 26, 2012. Neighbors heard a woman scream for help and bang on doors before she was found dead outside an apartment, local ABC and CW affiliate KNXV reported. Her 2-year-old son’s bloody footprints could be seen on a walkway. He was not physically hurt.
The deadly violence was the culmination of more than a year of domestic violence. Prosecutors said Villareal “terrorized, manipulated, and abused the victim,” who was trying to leave the relationship when she was killed.
Tia Carrick, Lomes’ sister-in-law, told local station AZ Family Lomes had gotten an emergency protection order against him months earlier.
“Somebody is going to get killed, and it was going to be Sheila,” she told the station, crying. “And then it was. That’s something that really haunts me every single day.”
“There were so many interactions with the police, and they should have done something,” Carrick added. “Somebody could’ve prevented this. Somebody could have stopped this before it happened, and she would’ve been here with her child.”
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Villareal fled to Mexico, where his whereabouts were unknown for years, authorities said.
“Investigators learned — they believe pretty soon after the murder, he fled to Mexico, and they had the case put together, they submitted it, they received an arrest warrant for Gilbert, but we couldn’t locate him. The case went cold,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Andy Williams told local Fox station KSAZ.
Then, on Dec. 21, 2016, authorities confirmed he was in Mexico when he was arrested for attempted homicide in Cancun for stabbing a woman in the neck, authorities said.
“When he was arrested, the Mexican authorities realized that he was also wanted in America for the two counts of murder,” Williams told KSAZ.
Villareal was convicted and sentenced to prison in Mexico, then was extradited to the U.S. to face murder charges in 2019 in Maricopa County, a lengthy process involving authorities in Mexico, the U.S. Marshals Service, Phoenix Police Department, and Interpol.
“Finding a way to bring this defendant back to the U.S. to face his crimes was a particularly challenging process,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell in a statement. “Our lawyers and support staff were relentless in their efforts to ensure he was located and returned here.”
“Remember, a two-year-old child witnessed this awful crime,” she added. “I hope that one day, when he is old enough to understand, he will recognize there were dozens of people on his side, fighting for justice.”
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