Cuban Woman Stabbed in Texas Defends Attacker Fatally Shot by Police

Despite nearly losing her life due to the multiple and severe injuries inflicted by her husband during a domestic violence incident in Austin, Texas, Cuban national Rosa María Tabera has come to the defense of her attacker, who was shot dead by a police officer on Monday while attempting to stop the assault.

In posts made on Facebook this Thursday from the hospital where she is recovering from her serious injuries, Tabera expressed her grief and sorrow over the death of her partner and father of her three children, Ensel Maclare. Early on Monday morning, Maclare repeatedly stabbed her in their apartment until he was shot by an officer responding to a call from their neighbors.

Both were transported to a local hospital: she sustained life-threatening injuries and was in critical condition, while he was pronounced dead at 3:05 a.m. In an initial Facebook post on Thursday, Tabera addressed her late husband, declaring her unconditional love and overlooking the brutal attack she endured from him.

“Nothing in this world compares to the sadness I feel inside, nobody in this world loved you more than I did. You were my friend, my brother, my father, my confidant, but you were the great love of my life; you were my love, my everything; I will love you all my life, my whole life, my love,” she expressed.

The domestic violence victim did not hesitate to praise her attacker, even calling him a “good husband”: “I ask God to hold you in His embrace because you were a good son, a good father, and a good husband, because you were a good man, because I do not regret the years we lived together and being the mother of your children. Rest in peace, my love. When I go to heaven, I hope to see you waiting for me at the gate because nothing and no one in this world can separate us, my love. I have no words to express the pain I feel.”

A few minutes later, Tabera made a live broadcast from her hospital bed, where—amid complaints about her injuries and tears over her partner's death—she justified the man, saying he “didn't know what he was doing” when he stabbed her.

“When I get out of here, I'll send him to Cuba to his children; I haven't allowed them to send him away because I want to give him one last kiss. No one can move him until I get out of here. No one can move him until I say goodbye,” Tabera warned, referring to the repatriation of the deceased's body.

In a clear state of desperation, the Cuban woman expressed her desire to trade her life for Maclare's, asserting, “I loved him with my life.”

Tabera stated that she is pained by everything that happened and thanked God for being alive, but said she would have preferred death to “feeling the enormous pain I feel in my body and my heart.” However, she emphasized that her children need her and reiterated, “The only thing keeping me alive is the love for my children. Those three kids are what keep me alive. Believe that.”

At another point, the woman complained about not being able to write back to the many people concerned about her condition and not being able to sleep due to her injuries, showing her bandaged arms from fingers to elbows. She mentioned having several wounds on one side of her torso, some with drainage tubes, and during the broadcast, she called a nurse to check them. The nurse reassured her in English that everything was okay, and then hospital staff could be heard asking her to end the call.

The incident involving the Cuban couple, both from Moa, Holguín, occurred after 1:30 a.m. on May 27 at the San Paloma Apartments complex in north Austin, where an altercation between the two took place for undisclosed reasons. According to the Austin Police Department's report, officers arrived at the scene around 1:45 a.m. and, upon entering the couple's apartment, found Maclare repeatedly stabbing his wife with a knife.

“To protect the victim's life, an officer used his service weapon and struck the suspect,” interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson told the press.

Maclare was pronounced dead just over an hour after the shooting. The officer who shot him has five years of service in the Austin Police Department and, as per protocol, will be assigned to administrative duties, according to a statement from the authorities.