ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — An Escondido woman is grateful to be alive after a brutal domestic violence attack.
"I really thought, oh, he's really going to kill me like I'm really going to die," Casandra Ortega said.
The incident happened the morning of Feb. 1 at their Village Grove apartment.
"We had the perfect night before. We were planning Valentine's Day. We didn't argue about anything," she recounts.
Ortega said the following morning, she woke up to her boyfriend, Arturo Ulloa, choking her.
"Him choking me scared me, so I grabbed a knife, and he basically took it from me and went from there," she said.
Ulloa stabbed and cut her with multiple knives 25 times all over her body, including in the face, stomach, and arm.
"I remember this one on my neck... it's really long. I remember feeling the knife cut through there," she said, pointing to a wound on her neck.
As Ortega was fighting for her life, she told her seven-year-old to run to the neighbors and call 911.
Escondido Police arrested Ulloa. He's charged with attempted murder and two counts of cruelty to children.
Ortega said she still doesn't know what triggered Ulloa.
She said he never showed any signs of being abusive during the six months they were together.
"He would help me with like the kids and my housework. He was like a real partner," she said tearfully.
Ortega is now focused on her and her children's recovery from the traumatic incident.
She adds she's grateful she won't be alone during the process.
"I have a big support system. I'm seeing all kinds of love come in... texts, calls, visitors," she said.
Ortega's family has started a GoFundMe to help Ortega with medical expenses and to get a new place for her and her two kids.
