The man suspected of stabbing his wife to death and attempting suicide Saturday evening has been released from the hospital and is now booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center.
Juan Lopez-Banos, 44, of the 3100 block of Posada Court, is charged with one count of first-degree murder in Saturday’s death of his wife, 41-year-old Amberly Busby Lopez.
Shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, Las Cruces police were dispatched to the couple’s home on Posada Court. Officers entered the home to find a woman dead on the floor and Lopez-Banos on a nearby sofa with a kitchen knife in his chest. Lopez-Banos was transported to Mountainview Regional Medical Center.
Investigators learned Lopez-Banos and Amberly Busy Lopez were married but having problems in their relationship. Apparently, Lopez-Banos feared Amberly was going to leave their relationship.
About 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Lopez-Banos sent a text message to a relative indicating Amberly was going to leave him. About two hours later, Lopez-Banos called the same relative saying that he stabbed Amberly. At 9:03 p.m., Lopez-Banos called the relative again claiming Amberly was dead and that he was going to turn the knife on himself.
Officers arrived at the couple’s home sometime after 9 p.m. and attempted to make contact with the occupants inside to no avail. Officers breached the front door to find Amberly already dead and Lopez-Banos suffering from lacerations to his wrists and a self-inflicted stab wound to his chest.
An LCPD investigator interviewed Lopez-Banos at the hospital where he acknowledged stabbing Amberly multiple times before attempting to commit suicide.
Lopez-Banos is currently being held without bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center.