Ill. Mom Obtained Order of Protection Against Ex. He Still Stabbed Her to Death in Front of Her 3 Kids

Marco-Antonio Rubio, 29, was sentenced to 70 years in prison for the 2021 killing of Esmeralda DeLuna, 24

An Illinois man who stabbed the mother of his children to death 10 days after she was granted an order of protection against him will spend decades behind bars, authorities said.

Marco-Antonio Rubio, 29, was sentenced to 70 years in prison for the 2021 killing of Esmeralda DeLuna, 24, on Sept. 11, according to a press release from the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. He pleaded guilty in March to one count of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors said Rubio broke into DeLuna’s Villa Park home on May 21, 2021, and stabbed her multiple times with their three children in the home.

Officers responded to the apartment at about 9:25 p.m. that night after receiving a report of a disturbance. Authorities said they heard crying from inside and found two girls and one boy between the ages of 1 and 6.

As they continued inside, officers found a trail of blood in the living room that led to the body of DeLuna in the kitchen. Prosecutors said DeLuna was lying on the ground with an eight-inch butcher knife in her leg and stab wounds to her torso. First responders brought her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead the next morning.

Investigators learned that DeLuna was the petitioner on an order of protection previously filed against Rubio, who was also required to move out of the Villa Park home. According to the prosecutor’s office, the order of protection was served to Rubio on May 7, 2021, just 10 days prior to the killing.

Authorities said Rubio fled the scene after the murder but was arrested the next morning while walking around the neighborhood.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

On a GoFundMe campaign created to help with funeral and other expenses in the wake of her death, DeLuna’s family said they lost her in a “very inhuman and cruel way.”

After the sentence, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the press release, "While what essentially amounts to a life sentence behind bars cannot erase the vicious murder of a loving mother, perhaps Esmeralda’s surviving family and friends can find some measure of solace knowing justice was delivered in Esmeralda’s name."

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.