LAKE CITY, Fla. – The Lake City Police Department is searching for a man they believe stabbed his 36-year-old girlfriend to death early Friday morning, dropped their 3-week-old at the grandmother's house, then took off in the victim's rental car.
Police believe 31-year-old Carlis Lindsey III is driving the victim's rental car, a gray 2013 Hyundai Elantra with a Florida license plate No. 987LGQ.
Channel 4 has learned that Chaquasha Avinger, a mother of three, was stabbed multiple times about midnight on Northeast Jackson Avenue near Fronie Street, a couple blocks from their home on Jackson Street. Police said the baby was in the car when Avinger was stabbed and her body was left in the street. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Police said Avinger had multiple stab wounds to the chest, abdomen and throat, as well as numerous cuts and lacerations to her sides and the sides of her neck.
"It's devastating. We're hurting. For right now, it's just trying to find him," said Sierra Caldwell, Avinger's sister. "She'd been shot five times, she was stabbed 20 times. It's just hard.
When I came home, we didn't know where the baby was because he took the baby with him."
Police said Lindsay has a history of domestic violence and is considered a violent convicted felon. The car he was last seen driving has now been reported stolen.
According to court records, Lindsey has an extensive criminal record, with prior arrests for aggravated assault on a pregnant woman, false imprisonment and drug possession. Just last year, Avinger filed an injunction against him for dating violence.
"The only reason it happened is because she was finally tired of it and decided to leave," Caldwell said. "This is the repercussions of it."
PRINTABLE WANTED POSTER: Carlis Lindsey III
Gwendolyn Clayton, Avinger's cousin, said talking to Avinger's children about their mother's death has been hard. Clayton said it was also difficult telling Avinger's grandmother the terrible news.
"We actually waited until this morning to tell ... that she had actually passed," Clayton said. "We didn't want her going into the hospital. She's very sickly. We love her dearly and we're a family and we're going to get through this."
Lindsey is described as a black man, 5 feet 9 inches tall and about 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has numerous tattoos on his back, chest, stomach, and full tattoo sleeves down both arms.
Authorities believe Lindsey could be headed to Jacksonville or Orlando. If you see Lindsey, you're urged to call 911. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts or with other information about this case can contact Investigator Tammy Cox at 386-752-4344 or may file an anonymous tip at 386-719-2068.