POCATELLO — A 32-year-old Pocatello woman was arrested Tuesday night and charged with attempted first-degree homicide in connection to the double stabbing near downtown Pocatello Sunday.

Marita Guadlupe Gonzales was taken into custody around 8:55 p.m. following an intensive two-day Pocatello Police Department investigation. She also faces a felony aggravated battery charge in connection to the incident.

The stabbing occurred around 10:06 p.m. Sunday at an apartment on the 700 block of South Arthur Avenue, when she attacked two women, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal obtained Wednesday. Police have not yet provided a motive for the alleged attempted murder.

According to court records, a 32-year-old woman was found nude, covered in blood — and though conscious and breathing — suffering from approximately 18 stab wounds to her face, head, neck and hands.

Officers began immediate medical aid before she was transported to Portneuf Medical Center via ground ambulance where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and intubated, court records show.

Due to the severity of her injuries, she was subsequently airlifted via helicopter ambulance to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, where she is reported to be in stable condition, police said.

The second woman, the 49-year-old mother of the first victim, suffered a significant laceration to her left cheek, police said.

Though both victims were named in a Pocatello police news release on Wednesday morning, it is the policy of the Idaho State Journal to not identify the victims of crimes without their explicit permission.

Court records show she told officers she was in her bedroom when she heard a commotion in her daughter’s room. Upon opening the door, she witnessed the suspect stabbing her daughter with a knife, police said. Gonzales then slashed the mother in the face before fleeing the residence on foot, traveling south on South Arthur Avenue, police said. The mother was transported to Portneuf Medical Center by ground ambulance where she was treated and released.

Court records say the mother told investigators her daughter had met Gonzales online and that they returned to the Arthur Avenue apartment together prior to the attack.

Initially, police were searching for a male suspect described as approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall with short hair, wearing a hat and a dark jacket, based on information from the mother at the scene.

A key break in the case came when Pocatello detectives reviewed surveillance footage from a business on the 300 block of South Fourth Avenue that showed the daughter and an unknown individual entering the store together at approximately 9 p.m. Sunday — roughly an hour before the stabbing, court records show. The unknown individual was seen wearing a black sweatshirt with a “Playboy Bunny” logo and black pants, matching the description the mother provided, police said.

Detectives then canvassed nearby businesses, including a gas station on the 1000 block of South Main Street, where a store clerk identified the individual in the photo from the South Fourth business as Gonzales, police said.

Detectives responded to a residence on West Terry Street to speak to known family members of Gonzales, who confirmed the unknown person seen with the 32-year-old woman in the photograph was Gonzales, police said.

Detectives located Gonzales at a nearby apartment on West Terry Street and confronted her about her relationship with the victims, but she refused, police said.

Given the nature of the crime, the time frame provided by the first victim’s mother and surveillance evidence placing Gonzales with the victim shortly before the attack, she was detained and transported to the Pocatello Police Department for further interviews.

During a search of Gonzales at the police department, an officer observed dried blood in her right pocket, police said. Officers also noted dried blood in Gonzales’ right ear prior to transport, the police report says.Gonzales was subsequently placed under arrest, charged and transported to the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.

Court records show Gonzales has a lengthy criminal history. Her previous felony convictions include injury to jail property in 2021, methamphetamine possession in 2020 and eluding police in 2021 following a 2020 high-speed pursuit that ended with her being ejected from a car when she crashed into a parked semi, the Idaho State Journal previously reported.

She was also charged with aggravated battery in 2019 for stabbing a man in the shoulder with a knife in front of officers who were attempting to arrest her at the time, court records show.

The Pocatello Police Department thanked the public for their assistance in the case.

Gonzales appeared in front of 6th District Magistrate Judge David A. Hooste on Wednesday where her bond was set at $1 million, court records show.

If convicted of the felony attempted murder and aggravated battery charges, she faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $125,000.