Karina Castro identified as beheading victim in California

A 27-year-old mother of two has been identified as the victim beheaded on a street in Northern California last week.

Karina Castro, who worked as a Door Dash driver, left behind 7-year-old and 1-year-old girls, KGO-TV reported.

Her youngest daughter was fathered by the man who’s been arrested for her murder, 33-year-old Jose Raphael Solano Landaeta, who goes by the name Rafa Solano.

Her father, Marty Castro, told the outlet, “Every time I saw her, I would beg her. Don’t talk to him. Leave him and it seemed like the more I did that, the more she would see him.”

Solano had been violent with Castro before, and she got a restraining order against him in April, but continued to see him, Castro’s family said.

Deputies from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office found Karina’s body Thursday in San Carlos, south of San Francisco, after being flagged down by a witness, law enforcement sources told KNTV.

Her head had been cut off with a sword, the local outlet reported.

Solano was taken into custody after he returned to the scene.

Karina’s grandmother, Danielle Gannon, told KGO that Landaeta was “a diagnosed schizophrenic on meds.”

“He would use that as an excuse for his behavior,” she said. “He drank excessively and you’re not supposed to do that on those kind of medications.”