A Texas man arrested for stabbing his pregnant sister to death was caught confessing to the killing on a doorbell camera, police said.
Michael Egwuagu, 25, was taken into custody on Friday, the same day 32-year-old Jennifer Chioma Ebichi was found suffering from multiple stab wounds at a home in Pflugerville, about 17 miles north of Austin.
Ebichi, who was in the first trimester of pregnancy, died at the scene, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
An arrest affidavit states that Egwuagu was seen on doorbell camera footage holding a knife as he left the home after the killing. The video also caught him telling a church member who had come to check on Ebichi: “I killed Jennifer.”
Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.
Chief Medical Examiner J. Keith Pinckard, said he believes Ebichi was stabbed one to two dozen times and died as a result of multiple stab wounds.
Authorities were called to the home just before 5 p.m. for a report that a woman had been stabbed. When deputies arrived, they found Ebichi on the kitchen floor suffering from “obvious injuries to her abdomen and face,” the affidavit states.
Egwuagu was found in the street outside the home naked with blood on him and an 8- to 10-inch bloody knife on the ground next to him. He was taken into custody on a murder charge.
Ebichi’s twin brother, Martin Egwuagu, told deputies that she texted him around 5:30 a.m. stating that Michael Egwuagu was at the home and “was having a crisis.” According to the affidavit, Martin Egwuagu said he talked to his brother to try and calm him down and Michael Egwuagu “made several strange statements.”
At around 4:10 p.m., Martin Egwuagu said his sister texted him again, this time asking him to come to the house. When he arrived, a church member was standing outside with Ebichi’s oldest child, who was covered in blood. Martin Egwuagu told deputies that inside the home he found Ebichi’s body and heard her younger child crying.
Martin Egwuagu said his brother was outside in the street and appeared to be praying. Michael Egwuagu, who had blood on his clothes, kept making statements that Martin Egwuagu was “one of the good ones,” according to the affidavit. The court document then states that Michael Egwuagu stripped naked and dumped his bloody clothes in a neighbor’s garbage can.
The church member, Linda Mura, told deputies that Ebichi had also asked her to come to the house and when she got there she heard yelling coming from inside. A short time later, Michael Egwuagu exited the home smiling, holding a knife and stating that he had killed his sister, the affidavit says.
Ebichi was a married mother of two daughters, according to a GoFundMe set up for funeral costs. She worked as a nurse at the Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin.
The medical center said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” by her death and was sending thoughts and prayers to her family.
Michael Egwuagu is being held at the Travis County Correctional Complex on a $500,000 bond. An attorney for him could not immediately be reached on Wednesday.
