UF student faces first-degree murder charges for allegedly stabbing mother to death

Emmanuel Espinoza SOURCE: Polk County Jail

FROSTPROOF, Fla. — A 21-year-old student at the University of Florida is facing first-degree murder charges for allegedly stabbing his mother to death on Saturday afternoon.

Emmanuel Espinoza, a pre-med student at UF from Polk County, was on his way from Gainesville to Frostproof to stay with his mother for a family event.

Once he arrived at the front door around 2 p.m., he began to stab his 46-year-old mother, Elvia Espinoza.

She was speaking with a family member on the phone at the time; he continued to stab her until she fell and died. After killing her, he dialed 911 and immediately confessed.

Emmanuel told deputies that he had wanted to kill his mother for many, many years because she got on his nerves.

When asked about his relationship with his mother, he said, "about an eight out of ten" and that he really loved her. However, she still irritated him. Today, he made up his mind way down from Gainesville that her would murder her.

Emmanuel was booked into the Polk County Jail Saturday night on first-degree murder charges for the fatal stabbing.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said he is currently cooperating with them.

Elvia was a second-grade teacher at Ben Hill Griffin Elementary School in Frostproof and was well-loved by the community.