A Perth Amboy, New Jersey man is heading to prison for two decades after a jury found him guilty in the fatal stabbing of his wife inside their family home, according to court records.
Wellington Leonardo, 47, received a 20-year sentence this week after being convicted of manslaughter by passion or provocation in the death of 39-year-old Rosanna Rodriguez. Under the terms of his sentencing, Leonardo will need to complete at least 85% of that term before becoming eligible for parole. Jurors did not convict him on the top charge of murder.
According to case records, the attack unfolded in the early hours of September 21, 2024, just days before Rodriguez would have turned 40. Court filings indicate she had recently told Leonardo she intended to leave the marriage.
The couple’s eldest daughter, then 13, woke to her mother’s screams around 3 a.m. and ran into the kitchen — where she says she saw her father stabbing her mother in the stomach. As her mother begged her to call for help, the teen dialed 911 and could be heard telling the operator that her father was attacking her mother.
Dispatch records show the girl was instructed to gather her three younger sisters — ages 11, 3, and 11 months — into a locked room and signal to officers from a window once they arrived. Investigators say the teen briefly went back toward the kitchen and threw an object at her father in an attempt to stop him before retreating with her sisters into their mother’s bedroom.
When officers reached the home, both Leonardo and Rodriguez were found on the kitchen floor covered in blood. Leonardo was hospitalized and survived; Rodriguez was pronounced dead at a separate medical facility.
In addition to the manslaughter conviction, Leonardo was also found guilty of weapons charges and felony child endangerment, according to prosecutors.