Man stabbed girlfriend, fled ‘as she bled to death’ in front of kids, CA officials say
A man stabbed his girlfriend to death in front of their two toddler children, California prosecutors say.
Now Rodrigo Bravo, 31, has pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the June 2023 death of Eleni Tavua, 30, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said in a Jan. 10 news release.
Though there was a restraining order in place against him, Tavua was with Bravo and their two children, ages 1 and 2, at their Salinas home on June 23, 2023, prosecutors said.
The pair began to argue, then “Bravo pulled out a knife” and stabbed Tavua “at least five times,”according to prosecutors.
Bravo fled the home and left the two children with “Tavua as she bled to death,” prosecutors said.
“I don’t understand how somebody could do something like that,” Tavua’s brother, Alex Carr, told KSBW.
In a Facebook Live video, Tavua’s uncle shared the family’s disbelief over her death, the Samoa Observer reported.
“She did not deserve to go the way she did,” Tavau Junior Misikau said. “No one deserves that and it’s really hard for us to accept what happened because it’s just unbelievable. She loved her kids with all her heart.”
Hours after the stabbing, Bravo turned himself in to police, the Salinas Police Department said in a June 27, 2023, Facebook post.
Bravo is scheduled to appear in court again on March 5, when he is expected to be sentenced to 16 years to life in prison, prosecutors said.
Salinas is about a 60-mile drive south from San Jose.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Man stabbed girlfriend, fled ‘as she bled to death’ in front of kids, CA officials say."
