Sanchez

The man accused of stabbing Crystal Leopold to death in Milwaukee on Aug. 11 is now charged with homicide.

Emmanuel Sanchez, 27, West Allis, was charged Wednesday in Milwaukee County with first-degree intentional homicide and violating a domestic abuse order.

Two days prior to the stabbing, a judge granted Leopold a restraining order that prohibited Sanchez from contacting her for four years.

The 24-year-old Leopold used to live in Waupaca, where her funeral was held on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police found Leopold on the floor of her upstairs room with a butcher knife in her chest.

A man was kneeling beside her, trying to control the bleeding by applying pressure to her wound.

Efforts to save her were unsuccessful, and Leopold, who had been stabbed in the heart, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 20-year-old man told police he and an 18-year-old woman had moved in with Leopold to protect her from Sanchez, her ex-boyfriend.

The roommate said he heard Leopold screaming, entered the bathroom and found Sanchez leaning over her in the bathtub.

He said he grabbed Sanchez, pulled him away and pushed him down the stairs. Sanchez then fled the building through a window.

Sanchez later contacted his brother, who drove to a park to pick up Sanchez.

After Sanchez told him what happened, the brother called 911. Then Sanchez jumped out of the vehicle and ran away, the complaint says.

Officers located him about a mile from Leopold’s residence later that night.

Sanchez is being held in custody in Milwaukee County jail on a $100,000 cash bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 24.