Couple seemed happy, says sister of Jacksonville stabbing victim

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The sister of a woman stabbed to death by her boyfriend in Jacksonville said the couple seemed happy a few weeks ago.

Jose Sevillano-Montanez told police he stabbed his girlfriend because she admitted to cheating on him, according to authorities.

Action News Jax found the man has a history of domestic violence.

He was charged with domestic battery in 2007. It’s unclear who the victim was and it appears that he was placed on probation and had to take court-ordered classes.

Sevillano-Montanez, 40, walked into a police substation and admitted to the deadly attack, police said. His girlfriend, Maribel Perez Ortiz, was found dead Tuesday with a knife in her chest in the driver's seat of a car by her teenage children.

The two are from Puerto Rico and had been together for a few years.

Perez Ortiz’s sister, who lives in Puerto Rico, posted on Facebook that Sevillano-Montanez is trying to tarnish her sister’s reputation and said that he is crazy and would send daily love messages.

Maria Navarro told Action News Jax he is bipolar and didn't seem stable.

She said her sister and Sevillano-Montanez seemed to be getting along, even going on a vacation recently.

Navarro said Sevillano-Montanez was happy one day and upset the next.

Sevillano-Montanez is expected to appear Wednesday afternoon in Duval County Court. He is charged with murder.

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