Clayton woman, 21, charged two years after Raleigh woman’s stabbing death
Two years after a Raleigh woman was stabbed to death in her apartment, a second person has been charged in her death.
On Wednesday, 21-year-old Kailey Lynch-Firicano, of Clayton, made her first appearance in court after being charged with accessory after the fact and obstructing justice.
On April 4, 2021, Christina Matos died after she was stabbed several times in her apartment on Hillsborough Street. She was 20 years old.
Soon after her death, Matos’ former roommate Erick Gael Hernandez-Mendez, of Clayton, was arrested and charged with murder.
Gerardo Matos told ABC11, The News & Observer’s news-gathering partner, that Lynch-Firicano was his daughter’s roommate.
Hernandez-Mendez’s trial was initially scheduled for mid-June of this year, but has since been removed from the court calendar. Earlier this month, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told The N&O that the next step in the case is a homicide hearing.
Court documents obtained by The N&O allege that Lynch-Firicano helped Hernandez-Mendez evade law enforcement by “destroying, disposing and deleting evidence and providing false information to law enforcement.”
Matos and Hernandez-Mendez obtained a marriage license February 2021 and got married March 29, 2021, less than a week before the killing, The N&O previously reported. Friend told media outlets that Hernandez-Mendez had offered to pay Matos $15,000 to marry him so he could stay in the country, The N&O previously reported.
This story was originally published June 28, 2023 at 2:14 PM.