Man charged in stabbing death of woman at Castleton apartment complex
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man has been charged in the murder of an Indianapolis woman on the city’s northeast side earlier this month.
On July 10, Jhabriel Munoz, 25, allegedly stabbed 53-year-old Tiffany Gough to death in her apartment, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Police responded to reports of a man with a knife and a woman yelling in the 7100 block of Constitution Drive around 9:30 p.m.
Officers approached the rear patio door of the apartment and found blood on the patio blinds and interior walls. Responders observed Munoz wearing a backpack and holding a knife at the front door looking through the peephole, where additional officers were attempting to gain entrance.
Authorities say that Munoz dropped his knife after the officers announced themselves and he was placed in handcuffs. Police found a cleaver covered in blood in Munoz’s pants pockets.
While being taken into custody, Munoz claimed that the victim first attacked him.
Gough was found deceased in the apartment’s bedroom with injuries consistent with stab wounds. An autopsy conducted by the Marion County Coroner’s Office confirmed the cause of death to be sharp and blunt force trauma, and the manner of death to be homicide.
Police also found an injured dog in the apartment with stab wounds to the face and abdomen.
Authorities are unsure of what led up to the attack, as Munoz has given different accounts of the incident.
Munoz first stated that he entered the residence after he heard a woman yelling for help. He claimed that he was trying to help the victim and that he had no knowledge of the knife found in his pocket.
Munoz later said that he once gave Gough money to cover her rent and that they were friends, but he did not know her name.
This is the second murder to occur at the Lake Castleton Apartment Homes recently. In May, a man was killed following a shooting at the complex.
Munoz was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. He is being charged with murder, as well as torture of a vertebrate animal.
IMPD has not yet provided a mugshot of Munoz.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.
