SUSPECT AT LARGE

NJ Cops Search for Woman Charged With Beating Wife to Death With a Wine Chiller

Just a week before the murder, Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus wrote to her wife in a Facebook post that she makes her “entire life better with every moment.”

New Jersey police are searching for a 48-year-old woman charged with beating her wife to death with a wine chiller, authorities said. A manhunt was underway on Wednesday for fugitive Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus, who is accused of murdering her 32-year-old wife named Rebecca Gavilanez-Alectus, who was found unresponsive on Sunday in the couple’s Creek Road apartment. The Ocean County Medical Examiner determined Rebecca’s cause of death to be a homicide on Monday. “The investigation further revealed that a cylindrical container used for the purpose of chilling wine was utilized in the commission of the murder,” said Ocean County prosecutors and Brick Township police. Just one week before Rebecca was murdered, Mayra dedicated a Facebook post to her wife on Mother’s Day, thanking her for the “uncountable ways” she made her life “better with every moment.”