Compton Man Charged After Allegedly Slitting Wife’s Throat With Granddaughter in the Room
Officials charged a Compton man with murder on Wednesday, two days after he allegedly killed his wife of more than 30 years while her granddaughter was in the same room.
Henry Cunningham, 66, faces one felony count of murder and one misdemeanor count of cruelty to a child by inflicting injury, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Prosecutors said the victim, 58-year-old Melanie Cunningham, was asleep inside her bedroom along with her 1-year-old granddaughter on Dec. 17 when her husband allegedly slit her throat with a kitchen knife.
Details about the couple’s living arrangement and the child’s relation to the defendant were unclear.
Deputies responded to the home, located in the 15600 block of South Frailey Avenue, around 10 a.m. on Monday and found the victim with apparent trauma to her torso, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. She was declared dead at the scene.
Officers reported recovering the knife at the home. They said they had received information that the husband might have been involved in the stabbing, and that Henry Cunningham turned himself at an LAPD station the same day.
The suspect remained in jail on $2 million bail, county records indicate.
He could face 25 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.
The case remained under investigation.
Authorities provided no further details.