MMA fighter Dwayne Herelle Jr allegedly stabbed ex 17 times

A former MMA fighter has been accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend 17 times and stuffing her body in his closet after an argument outside the woman’s Tennessee home.

Dwayne Herelle Jr., 28, has been charged with murder after he allegedly stabbed Irene Torres, 24, outside the home she shared with her parents in the early hours of January 29, according to her sister and local reports.

Herelle was reportedly waiting for Torres to get home from her work shift, and then “snaked up from behind and mugged her,” wrote Reyna Douglas, the victim’s older sister, on a GoFundMe page for Torres.

“She was repeatedly dragged and stabbed outside her parents’ home,” she wrote.

On Wednesday, investigators revealed that Torres had been stabbed “more than 17 times” during a packed court session, WKRN reported.

Herelle then dragged Torres’ body into the trunk of his car and drove to his home, where he stuffed her remains into a storage container and stowed the trash can in his closet, police said.

Metro Nashville Police Department detective Derry Baltimore said in court that the couple got into an argument before the attack, according to the local outlet.

Herelle also threw bloody pants and a handbag that belonged to Torres in a dumpster behind a grocery store, Baltimore said.

Torres’ parents checked surveillance footage outside their home after realizing their daughter never came home and they reportedly saw Herelle drag her from the camera frame, police said.

Torres’ father confronted his daughter’s ex, who initially told him she was a hotel, before allegedly confessing to the murder and telling him her body was in his closet.

According to her sister, Torres had broken up with Herelle a month before her death, who said the relationship was both physically and emotionally abusive.

“While most 24-year-olds are planning their careers and future and looking to the world with optimism, Irene spent some of the final months of her young life abused, humiliated, terrorized and terrified,” Douglas wrote. “Irene showed immense courage in leaving her abusive relationship and was so happy to start her new life with the support of her family, only to be hunted down in her front yard and brutally murdered a month later.”

She called her sister’s death “a senseless tragedy” but said her memory will live on.

“For those lucky enough to know Irene, despite being terrorized, abused and lived in fear, she always had a smile on her face and a compliment,” Douglas said.

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