A shocking crime has unfolded in Illinois, where a man is incarcerated after the violent murder of his wife, involving a knife and a hammer, as reported by authorities in the state.

The Batavia Police Department has charged 37-year-old Hector Luvianos-Barrera with two counts of first-degree murder.

This tragic event took place during the early hours of Tuesday in an apartment on Church Street, located in Batavia, a small town on the outskirts of Chicago.

Around 4:30 a.m., a 911 call was placed by Luvianos-Barrera himself, according to police reports. Officers arrived to find him outside the apartment, where he was arrested without resistance.

Inside the residence, officers discovered his wife suffering from severe, life-threatening injuries, as detailed by police in a press release. Despite paramedics’ efforts to save her, she succumbed to her injuries at the scene.

The fatal violence was described as “domestic-related,” according to the police department. The Kane County Coroner’s Office later identified the victim as Noemi Parada Narvaez, 43.

While initial details about the carnage were scarce, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office relayed harrowing and gruesome accusations during a hearing on Christmas Eve, according to a courtroom report by The Daily Herald, a suburban area newspaper.

During the attack, Luvianos-Barrera stabbed his wife 20 to 30 times in her head and an additional 20 to 25 in her back, neck and chest, Assistant State’s Attorney Tyler Cox told the judge.

The defendant also repeatedly hit the woman’s body and head with a hammer, the prosecutor said. By the end of the onslaught, the woman was covered in lacerations and had a broken skull, Cox added.

The defendant, for his part, allegedly told police he was defending himself on the night in question. The prosecutor ridiculed that account and described the incident as “a brutal and violent attack that went well beyond any inkling that it was self-defense.”

Luvianos-Barrera said the night began with the couple drinking alcohol while watching a movie but eventually deteriorated when his wife accused him of infidelity and began throwing objects at him, Cox told 16th Judicial Circuit Judge John Barsanti.

The defendant allegedly went on to tell law enforcement he hugged his wife in a bid to defuse the tense situation but came to find out she was holding a knife behind her back, the prosecutor added.

At that point, Luvianos-Barrera allegedly said he pried the knife away from Narvaez and pushed her down – but the woman would not relent. Finally, the defendant said, he admittedly began stabbing her and bashing her with the hammer repeatedly, Cox told the court.

“I defended myself and exceeded myself and killed her,” he allegedly said.

The woman was found lying face down on the floor with a blanket covering her body, the prosecutor told the judge.

Luvianos-Barrera is currently detained in the Kane County Jail without bond. He is slated to next appear in court on Jan. 2.