Arsonist burns apartment weeks before woman was stabbed

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - The missing woman found stabbed to death in her apartment has been identified by police. Now, disturbing details are emerging, showing this was not the first time someone tried to hurt her.

Memphis Police Department said Sulema Luna Tornez, 31, was found stabbed to death in her home Tuesday night.

Just a couple of weeks ago her apartment was burned. A fire broke out in the Aspenwood Square Apartments, in the 3200 block of Cortina Court, on Tuesday, December 27 at approximately 3:27 p.m. Fire investigators ruled the apartment fire arson.

Neighbors said they were shocked to hear of her death.

"She was very nice. We spoke. I helped her even move in," neighbor Carl Neal said.

Neal said she thought the fire was set by someone Tornez knew.

"She showed me a photo of the guy and I had seen him over here before," Neal said.

It's unclear at this time who the man was in the photo.

"We have to find who did that, find who did that," the victim's husband, Jose Ricardo Munoz, said.

Munoz didn't say a lot about the murder of his wife, Sulema, but he did say he is seeking custody of the couple's two young daughters.

"I'm the father. They gotta be with me because I didn't do nothing wrong," he said.

The couple was separated, going through a divorce, and were in the midst of a custody battle.

"There's no words. It's sad. They have two small children," TeShaun Moore, the victim's attorney, said. "They lost their mother. It's a pretty tragic situation."

Moore said there were allegations on both sides.

"History of protective orders and allegations of physical abuse both ways," Moore said.

Neighbors were shocked after police said Tornez was stabbed multiple times and found on the hallway floor of her apartment.

"This is scary. I mean, I'm a female. I'm striving to live alone and I have an ex," neighbor Michelle Payne said. "This is all scary."

Investigators said Tornez had only lived there for a few weeks. They said she was part of a group that worked to help people in need.

Investigators said they believed the person who killed Tornez knew her before committing the crime.

"My suspicions are it was probably somebody that she used to deal with or she no longer wanted to deal with," Payne said.

Deborah Clubb, head of the Memphis Area Woman's Council, said it can be very difficult for a woman to be safe if someone she knows wants to hurt her.

"How can we protect ourselves, really if we are going to go out and be in the world, from someone who is that determined," Clubb said.

Police have not released a description of who may be responsible for the crime.

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