Authorities have identified the woman prosecutors say was killed by her husband with a machete earlier this month as a 49-year-old San Jose resident.

Xuan Zhang was found dead on June 15 inside her “blood-splattered” home on the 5800 block of Snell Avenue next to a machete, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Her husband, 55-year-old Shede Mao, is suspected of killing Zhang and has been charged with first-degree murder.

Police were notified of the grisly killing at about 1 a.m., when Zhang’s friend called 911 after receiving photographs from Mao showing Zhang bleeding in a bloody room, authorities said. The friend reportedly called Mao and she could hear Zhang asking for help in the background, prompting her to call police dispatch.

When San Jose police officers arrived, Mao walked out of the home with his hands raised and surrendered, authorities said. Zhang was pronounced dead in the house.

Court records first reported by KRON alleged that Zhang had been planning to divorce Mao. Investigators found a large machete with a blood-stained blade near Zhang’s body, along with two bloody dumbbell weights, according to prosecutors.

A roommate and co-worker of Mao’s told homicide detectives he saw the estranged couple arguing the night before outside a Chinese restaurant in a shopping center near Blossom Hill Road and Snell Avenue, authorities said.

Zhang’s son told investigators that his mother married Mao in China about 10 years ago and moved to the Bay Area in October 2025. He also told police that Zhang said Mao had strangled her in December 2025, though she did not report the alleged assault to police, according to authorities.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said Zhang’s death was San Jose’s fourth domestic violence-related homicide of 2026.

“I am heartbroken, but sadness will never stop us from working with victims to get them and their children to safety,” Rosen said in a statement. “Sadness will never stop us from making sure violent abusers face the strictest justice.”

Mao appeared in court on June 17 but did not enter a plea, according to court records. He is scheduled to return for arraignment on July 20 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. He is being held without bail.

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This article originally published at San Jose woman killed in domestic-violence related machete attack identified.