Suspect pleads guilty to killing Filipina girlfriend in Canada

 A man accused in the 2022 killing of his Filipina girlfriend Shermaine Carling, 33, in Leamington, Ontario, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

David Espinoza Montes, a 40-year-old refugee from Honduras, entered the plea on April 11. 

Carling, a mother of two from Benguet Province, was killed on Sept. 29, 2022. She was a victim of intimate partner violence, according to authorities.

Carling moved to Canada in 2016 to support her children in the Philippines.  She worked in a food processing plant in Essex County.

 In her obituary, Carling was described as a loving mother and “a sweet daughter and charming friend to many.”

 At the time of her death, she lived with her then-boyfriend David Espinoza Montes in a rented rooming house in Mill Street East.

Immigrant pleads guilty to murder in IPV death of Filipino woman in Leamington https://t.co/RFOJneIHao

— CTV Windsor (@CTVWindsor) April 11, 2025

Filipina murder incident 

On Sept. 29, 2022, the suspect confronted Carling over suspicions of infidelity. Carling was “stabbed to death with two different sharp objects,” CTV News reported.

Montes’ suspicions led to an argument that erupted into violence. 

“The argument escalated,” Assistant Crown Attorney Jayme Lesperance said in court, as reported by CTV News, adding that Montes grabbed “two different sharp objects” — a kitchen knife and a pair of scissors that police recovered from the crime scene.

According to the autopsy report, Carling suffered 48 stab wounds. Her fatal injuries included damage to both carotid arteries and her right lung.

Following the attack, Montes sent an audio message in Spanish to a friend via social media, saying “la mate,” which translates to “I killed her.”

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He then left the house and told the landlord, “Mario, Mario, I killed  Shermaine,” before throwing himself on the ground and waiting for police to arrive.

Earlier that day, Montes visited a walk-in clinic and was prescribed medication for “mild depression contributing to poor sleep,” CTV News reported.

Montes, who did not have a valid Canadian working permit at the time of the incident, now faces “immigration consequences” following his guilty plea, according to her defense lawyer Patricia Brown.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 17, 2025.