Photo: Vergara-Martinez plead guilty to severing his ex-girlfriend's hands with a machete.
Lawyer for Armando Vergara-Martinez (49) announced that the accused would plead guilty to attempted murder and avoid trial in a machete attack against his ex-girlfriend.
The attack resulted in Maria Del Carmen Gomez (53) two hands being severed.
Although surgeons reattached Gomez’s hands, Gomez still cannot perform basic tasks such as feeding herself. She also expressed concern for her now inability to care for her brother who suffered a stroke.
“What can you do without your hands? Tell me,” stated victim Maria Del Carmen when she recounted the event for the press. According to Gomez, Vergara-Martinez blindsided her while she was in a grocery store parking lot.
After suffering severe head wounds that Vergara-Martinez also gave her and while the victim lost consciousness, he cut off her hands.
By pleading guilty, Vergara-Martinez waived an evidentiary hearing for the March 21st attack. Deputy Public Defender Steven Yeager told a judge that his client also plans to plead guilty to the felony charge in place for him in state court on April 30th.
For his violent machete attack, Vergara-Martinez could face up to 40 years in state prison. Currently, the accused is being held at the Clark County jail with bail set at $150,000.
Gomez hopes that the case will highlight the need for tougher laws and actions in domestic abuse cases, and also serve as a wakeup call for people in dangerous relationships.
