Roommate charged with helping Christina Matos' husband cover up her murder
A North Carolina State University student was charged Tuesday with felony accessory to the murder of Christina Matos, who was stabbed to death in 2021 in her apartment near campus.
Matos' husband, Erick Gael Hernandez-Mendez, was charged with her murder. Police discovered Matos locked in her room at the Signature 1505 apartments on Hillsborough Street and stabbed to death on April 4, 2021, Easter Sunday. She was 20.
Kailey Lynch-Firicano, 21, of Clayton, was arrested Tuesday at her workplace on Trinity Road in Raleigh and charged with felony accessory after the fact to murder and obstructing justice. She was being held in the Wake County Detention Center with no bond, and a court date was scheduled for Wednesday.
Lynch-Firicano was indicted Monday by a grand jury. According to court documents, she is accused of helping Hernandez-Mendez escape and avoid arrest "by destroying, disposing and deleting evidence" and "providing false information to law enforcement officers" to "deceive and delay their investigation."
According to Lynch-Firicano's LinkedIn profile, she studies business administration and marketing at N.C. State. Family members told WRAL News she was Matos' roommate.
In 2021 Matos' family asked Raleigh police to do a welfare check after they didn't hear from her for five days. An autopsy revealed she was stabbed 16 times.
Matos’ family said she married Hernandez-Mendez on March 29, 2021, six days before she was found dead in her locked room.
Matos’ friends and family said Hernandez-Mendez was in the country undocumented, and he was going to pay her $15,000 in exchange for the marriage license.
Matos' father told WRAL News, "We are relieved. We always believed there was someone else involved. It is a big day for our family and for Christina."
An aunt added, "We have been waiting for this for a long time. We hope this is finished soon as there are now two people in prison."
Erick Hernandez Mendez remains in jail without bond. He could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty if convicted.
Lynch-Firicano was also held without bond. She was scheduled to appear before a judge on Wednesday.
