New Jersey

Woman Returned From Texas to Face Charges in Wife's New Jersey Wine Chiller Slaying

Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus
Ocean County Prosecutor's Office

What to Know

  • A woman accused of having beaten her wife to death with a wine chiller inside their southern New Jersey apartment has been returned to the state from Texas to face charges
  • The Ocean County prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus, 48, of Brick, was processed Tuesday afternoon at the Brick Township police department and is being held in the county jail
  • Gavilanez-Alectus, who was captured last month in Houston, is charged with murder and two weapons offenses in the slaying last month of Rebecca Gavilanez-Alectus, 32

A woman accused of having beaten her wife to death with a wine chiller inside their southern New Jersey apartment has been returned to the state from Texas to face charges.

The Ocean County prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus, 48, of Brick, was processed Tuesday afternoon at the Brick Township police department and is being held in the county jail.

Gavilanez-Alectus, who was captured last month in Houston, is charged with murder and two weapons offenses in the slaying last month of Rebecca Gavilanez-Alectus, 32. An autopsy concluded that she was killed with a “cylindrical container used for the purpose of chilling wine,” and her death was ruled a homicide.

Authorities have not said what prompted the attack or what led them to believe her wife was responsible for it. No other injuries were reported.

Copyright The Associated Press
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