Man caught in Charlotte after deaths of pregnant woman, unborn child in Rock Hill stabbing
A man accused of stabbing a pregnant woman to death Friday night in Rock Hill is being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold in the Mecklenburg County jail concerning charges for both the woman and her unborn child after he was caught in Charlotte, according to police and jail records.
The pregnant victim, identified by the York County Coroner as Leonor Alpizar, 37, of Rock Hill, died at Piedmont Medical Center after she was stabbed, the Rock Hill Police Department said.
Her unborn child did not survive, according to a second Rock Hill police statement issued Monday afternoon.
South Carolina officials added a charge of death or injury of a child in utero due to the commission of a violent crime on Monday to charges of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime against Pedro Mondragon-Ramirez, 41.
The law states a person who commits a violent crime “that causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child who is in utero at the time that the violent crime was committed” can face a separate offense.
Mondragon-Ramirez was taken into custody early Saturday by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers while driving the victim’s vehicle after a pursuit, Rock Hill police said.
The stabbing happened at a mobile home in the 500 block of Iris Circle, Rock Hill police Lt. Michael Chavis said Monday.
Police said there had been a “relationship” between Mondragon-Ramirez and the victim, but have not released other details on a possible motive for the crime.
Mondragon-Ramirez remains in jail in North Carolina on a fleeing police charge and a fugitive warrant for South Carolina charges, according to the Mecklenburg County jail web site. He also is under an ICE detainer, according to Sarah Mastouri, spokesperson for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.
It is unclear when he will be extradited from Charlotte to York County and served the arrest warrants.
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 10:53 AM.
