Woman's throat slashed, husband also attacked inside Fresno County home

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno County man is sharing the desperate pleas from his neighbor who begged for help in a bloodied note early Sunday morning. Investigators say the woman's throat was slashed by a suspect who also attacked her husband. Deputies say the two victims are stable but still in critical condition.

Investigators say 20-year-old Gustavo Hernandez of Fresno tried to murder the couple. He has since been arrested. And if it wasn't for a neighbor, deputies say he might have been successful. That neighbor doesn't want to be identified but says he was the first person to help 21-year-old Francisca Sanchez.

"I got up and went to the door, and I asked them who is it, and they didn't answer so I told them to leave," the neighbor said. "At first I didn't know she was injured, until I got closer and seen that she couldn't talk."

Sanchez couldn't talk because her throat was slashed. Her husband, 23-year-old Tony Sanchez, according to deputies, was also hurt and was unconscious in their home. Francisca was barely able to get to her neighbor's house with a note asking for help.

"She had her hand on her throat. She had a shirt and it was drenched in blood. She was drenched in blood. Her shirt was white, but it was red with all the blood," the neighbor said.

Once deputies arrived, they found Francisca's phone had been stabbed with a knife, and the suspect had stolen her husband's car. But their most valued treasure was untouched.

"There was a little girl that was also in the residence. She was sleeping at the time," said Sgt. Joe Smith with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

The young girl, investigators say, was unaware of the attack -- likely the only silver lining for the couple, besides surviving the horrific assault.

Hernandez was booked into the Fresno County Jail on several felony charges, including two counts of attempted murder. Detectives haven't released a motive for the crime.