Raleigh woman died from repeated stab wounds at Hillsborough Street apartment

Christina Maria Matos, the 20-year-old woman found slain in her Hillsborough Street apartment, died from multiple stab wounds to the neck, Wake County death records state.

At her funeral Monday, friends and family filled the chapel and remembered a young woman of deep faith and a large heart, curious about the world and eager to help its less fortunate.

“She was always the one asking was everybody OK,” said Will Kelley, youth minister at Everett Chapel Freewill Baptist Church in Clayton. “She was always the one who took the initiative.

“You’re sad,” he continued outside Lea Funeral Home. “You’re confused. There’s a little bit of anger. There’s a lot of things you don’t understand, and you’re broken for the family.”

Matos’ death certificate states she died within minutes of being stabbed.

Erick Gael Hernandez-Mendez, also 20, is charged with her murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Classmates married week before killing

Former classmates at Clayton High School, Matos and Hernandez-Mendez received a marriage license in February and were married March 29, records show.

Last week, a friend said Hernandez-Mendez had offered to pay Matos $15,000 to marry him so so he could stay in the United States, according to ABC 11, the N&O’s media partner.

“He came to Christina in hopes that they could get married and he could be a legal citizen, and he promised, ‘OK, if we marry, I’ll give you $15,000 and we kind of like, kind of go our separate ways and eventually get divorced in three years,’ “ Savannah Ferrell told the station. “Christina had the full intention, just to get divorced, get her check and be gone.”

At the funeral, Kelley said he knew the suspect only in passing.

“I had met him a few times when he had been to church,” the youth pastor recalled. “I didn’t really have a close relationship with him. I knew him as a passerby.”

Matos took classes at Wake Tech in the fall, but was not enrolled in the spring semester, a school spokesperson told The News & Observer.

She was a former server at Jonathan’s Sports Lounge & Grill, according to the bar’s Facebook page. Matos’ father Gerardo Mato said his daughter worked as a waitress at Mango’s Nightclub.

Family did not know about marriage

Her family has said they knew little about the pair’s life together and the circumstances of her death.

“We know nothing,” said her aunt, Norma Matos. “Everything for us is a surprise. We don’t even know how she died. We have no forensics, nothing. Today is the day for saying goodbye to Christina. It is very tragic. Very sad.”

At Monday’s service, her brother Abraham stood before dozens of mourners in front of her open casket, struggling to say goodbye.

“It was a blessing to have been her brother,” he said. “She will always be remembered as that hard-working, big-hearted woman that she was.”

In a phone interview, he also said the family did not know about his sister’s marriage arrangement.

Staff writer Ashad Hajela contributed to this story.

This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 10:59 AM.