Murder suspect calls marriage a ‘sham’ to gain US citizenship, said roommate killed his wife

Erick Hernandez-Mendez, charged with the murder of his wife, a student at North Carolina State University, took the stand Monday to testify in his own defense.

Hernandez-Mendez was charged with murder following the April 2021 death of 20-year-old Christina Matos. If convicted, Hernandez-Mendez would face life in prison without parole.

Authorities found Matos dead on April 4, 2021, inside her apartment at the Signature 1505 along Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. Matos’ autopsy revealed she was stabbed 16 times in her apartment near N.C. State.

In court on Monday, Hernandez-Mendez, who was born in Mexico, testified his marriage to Matos was a “sham” to qualify for U.S. citizenship as he pursued a career. He also claimed he watched Matos’ roommate, Kailey Lynch-Firicano, stab the victim in their apartment.

Hernandez-Mendez and Matos were legally married on March 29, 2021, just five days before Matos’ death.

Hernandez-Mendez spent his first 20 minutes on the stand discussing his family and background. Hernandez-Mendez said he moved with his family to the United States as a young child and said he lost his qualification to re-enter the country legally when he was 10.

Hernandez-Mendez, who said he developed a friendship with Matos after their graduation from Clayton High School, said he told Matos over lunch at North Hills he would not be able to pursue U.S. residency unless he married a legal citizen. He claims Matos offered her help, asking him to marry her.

In court on Monday, Hernandez-Mendez testified his relationship with Matos was platonic. On the stand, he identified himself as gay and said he and Matos never had sex.

“This was a sham marriage,” Hernandez-Mendez said, adding “there was no intimacy … this was just an agreement” with Matos so he could apply for a green card and pursue a career.

“I married her for convenience and to get my citizenship,” Hernandez-Mendez said.

Hernandez also testified he was planning to pay Matos $15,000 for their arrangement and had already paid her $4,000 as a down payment before her death.

Hernandez-Mendez has repeatedly denied killing Matos. In court on Monday Hernandez-Mendez testified Matos was stabbed by her roommate, Kailey Lynch-Firicano. Lynch-Firicano is charged with accessory after the fact and obstruction of justice.

Hernandez-Mendez testified that the roommates had a fight over the temperature in the apartment days before Matos was killed. He then testified that he saw Lynch-Firicano stabbing Christina.

“I put my ear to door … [I] thought she brought a guy over,” Hernandez-Mendez said. “[I opened] the door and I saw Kailey stabbing Christina.”

Hernandez-Mendez said Lynch-Firicano had a knife in her hand and a rag over Matos’ mouth, even getting his attorney to help him demonstrate what the scene looked like.

“They were on their knees like this,” he described to the courtroom. “She was coughing and gurgling with blood coming out … I stayed with her til’ her last breath and I said I will go get help … and Christina said no, let me die.”

Instead of calling 911, Hernandez-Mendez said he “took my bloody white shirt off” and “jumped in shower.”

“Her [Lynch-Firicano] being calm scared me more than actual murder, she had no emotion,” Hernandez-Mendez described. “I wish I would have called 911m, if I did I wouldn’t be in this situation today.”

Last week in court, new pieces of evidence were revealed, including a Walgreens receipt for Clorox wipes and bleach.

On Monday, Hernandez-Mendez testified he bought the items to clean up the crime scene after Lynch-Firicano threatened his family. He said be bought lemonade and tea to make it look like a normal grocery list.

“I didn’t want it to look suspicious, [I tried] to make it normal as possible,” he said.

Hernandez-Mendez is expected to be on the stand the rest of the day.

In court on Friday, the state read some of the text messages the couple exchanged before resting their case. On Thursday, a few new pieces of evidence were revealed, including a Walgreens receipt for Clorox wipes and bleach.

The court last week played a video Raleigh police had with Hernandez-Mendez just five days after Matos went missing in 2021.

In the video, Hernandez-Mendez showed little emotion when the detective says his wife of just five days is dead.

A Raleigh police detective in the video said a solution used to detect blood in the apartment was a very important clue.

“A blood trail from Christina’s room went straight to your room and no where else,” a police detective tells Hernandez Mendez in the video. [Is there] something you need to tell me?”

“I don’t really have an answer to that,” Hernandez-Mendez said in the video. “I don’t know. I would never cause harm to [anyone].”

The defense poked holes in the Raleigh police interview.

“I don’t believe there is a super secret, dark ninja at night that did this at night,” Raleigh police detective Wilber O’Neal said Thursday in court.

A detective also questioned why there was a knife missing from the butcher block. Hernandez-Mendez said he didn’t know.