Man jailed for life for stabbing his teenage girlfriend 35 times during row over the paternity of their child (Photos)

A drug-addict has been sentenced to life in prison in Australia with a 19-year minimum for the murder of his teenage girlfriend during a row over the paternity of their child.

27-year-old Junior Fayiah Carlos was under the influence of methylamphetamine, cannabis, sleeping pills, and alcohol when he and the 19-year-old woman had a dispute about infidelity and the baby’s paternity in Mandurah, south of Perth, in December 2017.

Prosecutor Craig Astill said Ms. D’Cruz threw a bottle of alcohol at Carlos and grabbed a kitchen knife, but he managed to disarm her before turning the weapon on her and “losing control”.

He stabbed her 35 times in the neck and upper body and even went to sleep and her body. Mr, Carlos was later found covered in a blanket in the bathroom, the West Australian Supreme Court heard on Thursday.

Ms. D’Cruz suffered 17 stab wounds to the face and head and another 18 injuries to her neck, shoulder and back in what was described as a “frenzied” attack.

When paramedics arrived at her home they found Ms. D’Cruz’s partially decapitated body in the bathroom covered by a doona.

Carlos, who pleaded guilty to murder, was today (Oct.31) sentenced to life in prison and must serve at least 19 years behind bars before he can be eligible for parole.

The court heard he had a “substance-induced delusional disorder” at the time of the killing.

Justice Joseph McGrath described the attack as a “spontaneous act of violence” in which Carlos stabbed Ms. D’Cruz to the most vulnerable part of her body.

“The stabbing was clearly done with ferocity,” he said. “The deceased should have felt safe in her home.”

The court heard Carlos had a conviction for attacking a previous partner. He also had a history of assaulting Ms. D’Cruz, who had taken out a violence restraining order against him shortly before her death, but they had remained in contact.

Carlos’s lawyer David Rice said Carlos was born in Sierra Leone but came to Australia when he was 12 after spending five years in a refugee camp.

He had run into “difficulties” in Perth, which led to him regularly using illicit drugs from the age of about 15.

Psychiatric reports presented to the court said Carlos was suffering from “substance abuse delusional disorder” which had led to him having delusions about whether he was the father of his daughter.