Woman stabbed to death in Newman; man arrested

A woman was stabbed to death at a home in Newman early Wednesday, and a man she was dating was arrested, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department reported.

Sonia Gonzalez ,39, of Newman was pronounced dead at the home in the 1500 block of Langston Road after a 911 call at about 2:30 a.m., Sgt. Tom Letras said.

Officers located the suspect, 42-year-old Christopher Torrez of Newman, near the house, and a slow pursuit ended at Yolo Middle School a few blocks from the home at about 3 a.m., Letras said.

The 911 call had come from a relative of Gonzalez who lived at the home and gave a description of Torrez and his car to police, Letras said. He was arrested without incident.

The Newman Police Department and medical personnel also responded to the home, where the victim was found with multiple stab wounds. The Sheriff’s Department assists city police on many of their major crimes and is handling this homicide investigation.

Torrez was booked into Stanislaus County Jail on a murder charge. He remained there without bail as of Wednesday evening.

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call Detective Adam Rodriguez at 209-525-7093.

Modesto Bee staff writer John Holland contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 21, 2018 at 4:16 PM.