32 Chop Wounds: What Investigators Found

defendant stands before judges in a courtroom — Photo: MR.Yanukit / Shutterstock

A Los Angeles judge ruled there is enough evidence to try a Glendale firefighter in his wife’s brutal ax killing.

Story Snapshot

A judge ordered Andrew Jimenez to stand trial after a preliminary hearing.
Detective testimony described a blood-covered pick ax near Mayra Jimenez’s body.
The medical examiner documented 32 “chop” wounds consistent with an ax.
Prosecutors charged domestic-violence murder with a deadly-weapon allegation.

Judge Advances Case To Trial After Preliminary Hearing

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle found sufficient cause on October 21, 2026, to order Andrew Jimenez to stand trial for the killing of his wife, Mayra, in North Hollywood. The ruling followed a preliminary hearing where prosecutors outlined their evidence. A preliminary hearing tests probable cause, not guilt. The judge’s decision means a jury will hear the case. Jimenez has pleaded not guilty, and the charge remains an allegation until proven in court.

Detective Jason Haggis testified that officers found a pick ax near the body with blood on it inside the bedroom. Reporting placed the tool within about two feet of Mayra Jimenez. Investigators saw no signs of forced entry, which suggested the attacker likely had access to the home. Prosecutors said one injury matched the pick end of the tool, tying the wounds to the recovered ax, according to hearing coverage. These details formed key parts of the state’s probable-cause case.

Medical Findings Point To Repeated Ax Blows

Preliminary-hearing reports said the medical examiner counted 32 chop wounds, including 25 to the head and neck. The examiner reportedly described an internal decapitation injury and brain damage linked to a large pick ax. Prosecutors said the cause of death was chop wounds consistent with an ax. These findings align with the state’s theory of a deadly-weapon attack inside the home. Such medical detail is common in homicide cases and often shapes how jurors view intent and force.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Jimenez on January 23, 2026, with murder and alleged use of an ax as a deadly weapon in a domestic-violence case. The office’s release emphasized that the filing is an allegation and that the defendant is presumed innocent. Later coverage documented Jimenez’s not guilty plea. The court’s task at the next stage will be to seat a jury and admit evidence under the rules, which is a higher bar than the probable-cause test used this week.

What We Know And What Is Still Unclear

Public reports do not identify a direct eyewitness to the killing, and the available summaries do not disclose full lab links between Jimenez and the ax, such as DNA or fingerprints. Some outlets differ on the exact date of death and the victim’s age, which can reflect reporting errors that the trial record may resolve. These gaps do not change the judge’s decision on probable cause but show why trials rely on sworn testimony and certified records.

A Glendale firefighter was ordered today to stand trial on a murder charge for allegedly bludgeoning his wife with an ax inside their North Hollywood home https://t.co/dKYTDZOERy

— KESQ News Channel 3 (@KESQ) October 22, 2026

This case also sits in a wider pattern of intimate-partner homicide risk, which helps explain why investigators treated the scene as suspected domestic violence. Federal health data show that intimate partners account for a large share of female homicide victims, and that risk has held steady in recent years. Those trends do not prove who committed this crime. They do show why police and prosecutors move fast when a spouse is found dead inside a home.