Bail doubled for Hughson man accused of stabbing Modesto girlfriend

A judge on Tuesday afternoon doubled the bail amount for a Hughson man accused of stabbing his girlfriend seven times as the couple sat in his parked car Sunday in Modesto.

Raymond Amador, 29, made his first court appearance since his arrest Sunday. He has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated mayhem and battery on a spouse, along with enhancements of causing great bodily injury and using a knife during a crime, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

Deputy Public Defender Rafael Bito, Amador’s court-appointed attorney, entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client and denied the enhancements against him.

Amador’s 32-year-old girlfriend has since been transported to a Bay Area hospital, where she was on a respirator Tuesday and remained listed in critical condition.

Deputy District Attorney Beth O’Hara DeJong told the judge that the prosecution will likely amend the charges to include an allegation of premeditation based on the stab wounds the woman suffered. The prosecutor said the victim was stabbed in the neck, forehead, temple and an eye. She has lost the use of the eye.

Modesto police said the victim escaped from the car and sought help from her mother, who was inside the Modesto home. DeJong told the judge that the mother found the victim with “blood dripping down her face like a faucet.”

The prosecutor said in court that the victim, before she lost consciousness, told her mother that Amador was her attacker. The prosecutor asked the judge to increase Amador’s bail from $500,000 to $1 million.

The defense attorney argued that $520,000 is the scheduled bail amount for the filed charges against his client. Bito told the judge that $520,000 is beyond Amador’s means, and that the amount would ensure the defendant would return to court if he posted bail.

Judge Edward Lacy increased Amador’s bail to $1 million and scheduled Amador to return to court Dec. 14 for a pretrial hearing.

The stabbing was reported to police about 4:45 a.m. Sunday. Police received a 911 call from the victim’s mother saying her daughter was bleeding, and that she was taking her daughter to a local hospital emergency room.

Officers learned that the woman had been stabbed multiple times while sitting in her boyfriend’s car parked in front of her home, police said. With help from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, police found Amador at his Hughson home. He was taken into custody and later booked at the jail.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Bail doubled for Hughson man accused of stabbing Modesto girlfriend."