Mother injured in domestic attack breaks silence after ex-husband charged with daughter’s murder

SAN ANTONIO – It’s a road to recovery that might not have a finish line.

A woman and her daughter are physically healing but still dealing with the mental trauma of being attacked by their ex-husband and father, according to San Antonio Police.

“I had 5 or 6 broken bones, 7 gunshots wounds, about a 10-inch incision on my abdomen,” said Mariah Clare.

Mariah and her kids were attacked by her ex-husband, Stephen Clare, on April 10th, according to SAPD.

Officers said Mariah was shot multiple times, and her daughters were stabbed. It cost 11-month-old Willow her life, and 2-year-old Rosalie survived.

“Rosalie had her initial surgery to kind of put everything back inside of her. There was a lot of swelling and things like that,” said Mariah.

Since April, both Mariah and Rosalie have had two surgeries each. They are expected to make full physical recoveries, but their psychological wounds are still deep.

“I will never get to hear my daughter tell me that she loves me,” said Mariah.

Rosalie has nightmares.

“Something so innocent like — I’m in my kitchen cutting vegetables, and I use the large knife out of my knife block, and she was terrified,” Mariah said.

Stephen Clare, 50, has been indicted by a Bexar County grand jury. He is charged with capital murder of a child under 10, attempted capital murder of a child under 10, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury.

“I don’t know that there is a punishment severe enough for the crime that he committed. No matter what they decide, he should never be a free man again,” Mariah said.

Judge Joel Perez with the 437th District Court revoked the bond for Stephen. The ruling means he will remain in jail.

Stephen is now potentially facing the death penalty in this case.

Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales released the following statement Tuesday regarding that possibility:

“Since the beginning of my administration as Bexar County Criminal District Attorney, I have stated that the death penalty will be reserved only for the worst of the worst. We have an internal process where our capital crimes committee reviews every capital murder case to decide whether we will seek the death penalty. Since this case is only recently indicted, it is too early to predict whether our office will seek the death penalty.”