FAIRFAX, Va. — Warning: Some of the details below are graphic and may be disturbing.
Close friends of Silvia “Kelly” Abacay wiped away their tears Tuesday as prosecutors showed pictures of the bloody crime scene in a gruesome murder case in Falls Church.
The second day of trial against Richard Montano was graphic as detectives took the stand, explaining the evidence collected and photos snapped of the apartment where Abacay died.
Montano is charged with second-degree murder, accused of stabbing Abacay several times, and setting her body on fire in the 2900 block of Willston Place on Aug. 11, 2022.
The evidence shown to the jury included a picture of a pink and white knife found in the kitchen cupboard with a bloodstain on it.
"We photographed red stains that were consistent with blood in the living room and dining room area and the hallway,” testified FCPD Detective Susan Anderton.
Other photos presented include a rainbow-colored painting covering a wet and large blood stain in the hallway with more than five used matches nearby. Anderton also explained how the front door had different types of blood splatters and smears, which would indicate a bloodied object hitting the door and evidence of the impact.
There were also large blood stains on the wall by the front door, which Anderton described as, "so heavy that the blood was running down.”
Fairfax County Police first responded to a call of a domestic disturbance around 3 p.m. Neighbors said they heard Abacay yelling for help.
Officers arrived to find the 40-year-old mother on fire, according to FCPD. Investigators said she also suffered several stab wounds to her upper body.
“She didn't deserve this,” Abacay’s friend Yerin Romero first told WUSA9 in August 2022. “She didn't deserve the way she died. She suffered a lot it seems like.”
Romero and other friends were in the courtroom Tuesday as Montano was sitting in front of them. They looked at evidence which showed the front of the apartment with charred and burned carpet, to the point you could see the hardwood floor underneath.
Abacay and Montano were acquaintances, friends said, although the motive behind her death is still unclear.
“We knew each other for a long time," Romero said.
Police arrested Montano in Arlington where he lived. Another detective testified how he found tissue and clothes in Montano’s bathroom with red stains.
Investigators were able to identify Montano through the help of a picture, which police say came from a neighbor who said they saw Montano as he was running away from the apartment.