An Aiken mother and daughter were brutally stabbed to death on Thursday by the daughter’s ex-boyfriend, and he is charged with two counts of murder in their death.
Guillermo Diaz Jr., 23, of 3071 Old Long Camp Road, is being treated at area hospital for lacerations to his wrists. Once he is transferred to the jail, he will held for the deaths of 43-year-old Veronica Negrete and her 23-year-old daughter, Cassandra Negrete.
Diaz called the sheriff’s office around 2 .m. Thursday from the victims’ home at 217 Weyerhaeuser Road home, according to authorities. Officers arrived and asked him to step outside.
“A (Hispanic) male covered in blood talking on the phone exited the residence,” a sheriff’s report says.
Officers then cleared the residence and located the two women on the property.
“Veronica was located on her bed and Cassandra was located in a car in the backyard of the home,” Coroner Darryl Ables said. “Both victims had sustained stab wounds.”
The Jail Report asked sheriff’s Capt. Eric Abdullah about a motive. “Don’t have anything on why and if any type of altercation occurred,” he replied by email.
Cassie Negrete was well known in the community as a student at USC Aiken, where she was majoring in psychology. Earlier this year, she posted on Facebook about making the university’s President’s List. To earn this distinction, Negrete had to be enrolled as a full-time student and maintain a 4.0 GPA.
She was remembered on Facebook by friends. Kristin Rutland said this: “My heart is shattered into a million pieces tonight. An amazing girl I had the pleasure to know in college was abruptly killed recently. She had so many plans for her future to apply to grad school and get her LPC to become a counselor/therapist. She was so intelligent and had SO much going for her. She was a Magellan Scholar and on the President’s List. We did research together in undergrad and she was such a sweet, kind person. Her life didn’t deserve to be taken away. Neither did her mom. My hurt yearns for her and her mother after such a tragedy. RIP Cassie Negrete.”
Note: If you have a photo or memory of the victims to share, please text it to The Jail Report at 803-487-3224.
