Washoe County Jail/Facebook Michael Burciaga and Amanda Davis
Michael Burciaga, 33, has been accused of stabbing his pregnant girlfriend to death in front of her three children, police said. The incident occurred at a residence on Tule Street in Nixon, Nevada, shortly after midnight on Tuesday, December 15, according to court documents obtained by News4. When police responded to the home, the outlet reported, they were met by the three children who said their mother had been stabbed.
The Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as 37-year-old Amanda Davis, News4 wrote. According to court documents, she was found face down in the master bathroom and died on the scene despite officers’ attempts to treat her wounds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a statement about the incident saying that Burciaga has been charged with second-degree murder of an indigenous woman in Indian Country on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation. He is set to face a jury trial on February 22, 2021, and faces life in prison if he is convicted. He is currently being held in the Washoe County jail, public records show.
Davis’ Children Told Officers They Witnessed the Attack on Their Mother
FacebookAmanda Davis and Michael Burciaga
The criminal complaint indicated that Burciaga stabbed Davis multiple times with different knives in a “domestic violence incident,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s statement. Shortly after police officers arrived, the three children yelled, “He’s back! He’s back,” court documents stated, according to News4.
Officers then found Burciaga outside the home, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. The 33-year-old man told officers, “I already know what happened, and I know what I did, which is why I slit my wrist.” Officers provided first aid to the cut on his hand and Burciaga was then brought to the hospital for further treatment. On the way, he told them he was the father of Davis’ unborn child, the press release stated.
Davis’ daughter, one of the three children at the residence during the killing, called the police and said that Burciaga had stabbed her mother, according to an affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Adam Hawkins, the Reno Gazette Journal wrote. She said her brother woke her up to tell her their mother had been stabbed. After she was stabbed, Davis took her children into the master bedroom and barricaded the door, the affidavit shared.
Burciaga broke into the room despite the barrier and Davis hitting him with a baseball bat, the outlet reported. He then got his pregnant girlfriend into the master bathroom and began stabbing her once more. The affidavit said that one of the children hit him with a lamp but he continued to attack Davis.
Davis Was a Member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe & Hundreds Attended a Vigil to Honor Her
Davis was a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the chairman issued a brief statement about her death on Facebook, confirming the “loss of a tribal member.” Chairman Anthony J. Sampson Sr. wrote, “I want to express my deepest condolences to the Sander/Davis family for their loss of their family member.”
On December 18, hundreds attended a vigil in Nixon, northeast of Reno, in honor of Davis and her unborn child, who was named Ezra, according to News4. The vigil also served to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and domestic violence. Indigenous women are ten times more likely to be murdered than the U.S. average, the outlet reported.
Davis’ mother Jolyne Sander said of the vigil, “I want somebody to take something away from this and even if it’s just one woman out there that this will help, then I’m good with that.” A GoFundMe page was created to raise money to help support Davis’ three children.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline or call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for confidential and anonymous support 24/7.
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