LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KRQE) – Las Cruces police say a note passed by a child to a bus driver, saved their mother who had been abused all night. According to police, 40-year-old Erik Alvarado is accused of beating, trying to strangle, and suffocate the mother of his three kids.

Erik Alvarado (Courtesy: Las Cruces Police Department)

LCPD was notified of the incident around 8 a.m. Friday, April 23. Police learned Alvarado initiated the physical altercation with the woman about 8 p.m. Thursday, April 22. Investigators also learned that Alvardo threatened to kill the woman.

At some point, Alvarado allegedly took the woman’s phone and made her stay by his side all night so she couldn’t get help. The next morning, the woman was allowed to take her kids to the bus stop and that’s when she wrote a note saying she was in danger.

The woman asked her kids to give the note to the bus driver. The bus driver then called 911. When officers arrived at the home, they found the woman with several cuts and bruises and abrasions.

Officers arrested Alvarado later that day. He is being charged with three third-degree felony counts of aggravated battery against a household member, two for suffocation of the victim and one for strangulation. The 40-year-old also faces misdemeanor counts of battery against a household member and deprivation of property.