Chairwoman and founder of Guido & Associates, Judy Guido, was brutally attacked by a landscaper wielding a pickaxe on Wednesday, but is in stable condition today and is expected to survive, according to authorities.
The attacker, Abel De Jesus Monroy, is a 27-year-old landscaper who was hired by Guido to do some landscaping at her house in Moorpark, California. One of the two other crew members had left for lunch when Monroy allegedly armed himself with a pickaxe.
According to Sgt. Mike McConville of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Monroy began chasing his coworker saying that he was the devil and needed to be killed. The coworker escaped uninjured by jumping over a fence in the yard.
“The suspect, for unknown reasons, he had a disconnect with reality,” McConville told the Ventura County Star.
When Guido came out in the yard to see what was going on, Monroy began to chase her as well calling her the devil, according to authorities.
Guido’s dog came out and started barking at the landscape worker and he “came down on top of the dog with the pickaxe and crushed his head,” killing the dog, McConville told KTLA 5.
Monroy broke one of the house windows with the pickaxe and then struck Guido in the head with the landscaping tool, but she managed to run down the side of the house and into the street, where she was found by Ventura Country firefighters, bleeding from the head.
Deputies soon arrived to respond to the 11:30 a.m. disturbance report. Monroy had allegedly gone back into the house and tried to set it on fire by turning on the stove burners, but firefighters shut them off, saving the house from any flames. Deputies arrested Monroy outside of Guido’s house.
“He was still acting very delusional, making bizarre statements,” McConville told the Ventura County Star.
Guido was rushed to the hospital where she underwent surgery Wednesday night to relieve pressure on her brain. She is currently recovering in the intensive care unit and is in a stable condition.
“She’s extremely lucky,” McConville told the Ventura County Star. “…The main thing here is the victim survived. She’s OK.”
Monroy was booked at Ventura County jail and currently has a $1 million bail. He was charged with attempted murder, attempted arson of an inhabited structure or property, residential burglary and animal cruelty. He will appear in Ventura County Superior Court on Friday.