Chattanooga woman stabbed 25 times in fatal attack

Stabbing tile
Stabbing tile

A 29-year-old woman who died after a brutal September attack was stabbed 25 times, according to a preliminary report from the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's office.

Police believe Zacarias Salas-Rufino, 29, stabbed his wife, Yessica Ruiz, 29, on Sept. 26 after hearing her talking to another man on a cellphone, court records show.

Ruiz died on Oct. 1 from her injuries. She was stabbed in the abdomen, chest, neck, back and arms. About half the stab wounds are concentrated on the left side of her body - she was stabbed nine times in her left arm.

Police said her husband, Salas-Rufino, confessed to stabbing Ruiz after he overheard her phone conversation, but said he only remembered stabbing her four times. He said he grabbed a kitchen knife on his way to confront her about the phone call but claimed he intended only to scare her with it.

He said they struggled and that is when he stabbed her, according to court records. He was arrested and charged with criminal homicide.

The medical examiner's office also completed a preliminary report on the death of 33-year-old Jimmy McCane, who was shot to death on Oct. 9 during a fight at Jay's Bar on Wilder Street. McCane was a bystander who was not involved in the fight, police said.

He was shot once in the left side of his chest, and the bullet traveled across his body, according to the report. A 39-year-old woman, Kristy Foster, was shot in the leg during the attack but survived.

There have been 31 homicides in the city so far during 2016, Times Free Press records show. There were 30 homicides in all of 2015, according to police.

Contact staff writer ShellyBradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas. Follow @ShellyBradbury.

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