Brian Hamacher

Husband Accused Wife of ‘Voodoo' Curse Before Stabbing Her at Lauderhill Babies ‘R' Us: Police

The pair had recently married

What to Know

  • The stabbing occurred Tuesday at a Babies 'R' Us location.
  • The suspect is accused of attempted premeditated murder.

A husband accused his wife of "putting voodoo on him" before he used a box cutter to stab her numerous times at a Babies R Us in Lauderhill Tuesday, police said.

Officers responded to the store at 7350 W. Commercial Boulevard, where footage showed police tape blocking off a large section of the store's parking lot. A puddle of blood was seen next to one of the cars in the lot.

Police identified the victim as Liliana Manante and the suspect as George Hernandez. The couple had both recently married.

Hernandez, 53, is accused of attempted premeditated murder.

"They were sitting in their vehicle in the parking lot when the suspect began attacking the victim with a box cutter. In order to escape the attack, the victim fled the car and began running in the parking lot," the Lauderhill Police Department said in a statement. "The suspect chased the victim and continued the attack until witnesses intervened and thwarted any additional aggression. At that very time, police arrived on scene."

An arrest report alleges that Hernandez accused Manante of "putting voodoo on him and having evil spirits."

Manante, 51, was stabbed and lacerated six times in her upper torso, neck and head, the arrest report reads.

"The defendant stated several times in a taped interview that he wanted to and intended to kill the victim," according to the arrest report.

One witness said his wife saw the man stab the woman.

"We heard the screaming, you know that lady, I said to my wife 'something is going on there,' so my wife went to look and she saw the guy stabbing the lady," Hector Garcia said.

Police confirmed the husband was taken into custody. Manante was taken to Broward North Hospital. She's expected to survive.

CORRECTION (April 25, 2018, 10:29 a.m.) An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the criminal charge. It was attempted premeditated murder. 

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