Stopping by her Balch Springs home Tuesday, Hilda Gurrola’s sisters said the 34-year-old mother of three was trying to end a difficult chapter.
They said she was gathering her belongings a week after leaving her husband.
But instead of heading back with her sister Maricela Gurrola to her family’s home in Fredricksburg, Hilda wound up dead.
“I just don't believe it. It's like a nightmare, you know,” said Maricela Gurrola.
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Maricela said she made the four-plus hour drive to help Hilda.
While they were there, they got into a confrontation with Hilda’s husband of 12 years, Luis Pardo.
“My sister clearly told me she didn't feel safe right there. And I told her, well, ‘Let's go. We can come back another day for everything else,'” she said.
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That’s when Maricela said Pardo coaxed Hilda back into the house and into the laundry room where he stabbed her to death.
“I just heard my sister scream four times, and I ran as fast as I could,” said Maricela.
Despite attempts from Maricela and a neighbor to do CPR, Hilda died.
Now, Balch Springs asking the community for help tracking down Pardo, who they say fled the scene after killing his wife.
Hilda’s four sisters said she’d recently grown reserved and had moved home just a week before the murder.
They’re choosing to remember her as a light.
“She was always dancing, always laughing, cracking jokes, giving us big old bear hugs,” said Gricelda Llanas.
Hilda left behind two daughters and a 3-year-old son who was there when she was murdered.
“I feel like they lost everything,” she said.
For her sister, the focus now turns to getting the man who police say killed their sister behind bars.
“I consider him a dangerous person, because how can somebody just do this and just pick up and leave and then feel like it's okay?” said Llanas.
The family has set up a fundraiser to cover funeral expenses.
