This is the moment a brave mother led her attacker on a chase through her California neighborhood to save her children, after he broke into her house, grabbed a knife and later stabbed her 20 times.

Video footage shows Marylou Villalobos Palos, 42, dashing through the street to direct the intruder away from her daughters Evelyn, 15, and Elizabeth, 13, Tuesday evening.

A clip from their home security camera captures the victim screaming: 'He's trying to kill me. Help!'

Anaheim man James Carlos Melendrez, 25, is suspected of pursuing the parent down Danby Avenue before he caught up with her on Mullin Road and continuously knifed her.

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James Carlos Melendrez (left), 25, is suspected of stabbing Marylou Villalobos Palos (right), 42, 20 times on Tuesday evening in California

On her own home surveillance video she is heard screaming: 'He's trying to kill me. Help!'

Another home's security footage shows the woman running away from her attacker

One of her teenage daughters, Evelyn described the incident as 'something out of a horror movie'. She was in the bathroom and her sister was in her bedroom when she heard glass fall.

I went and I saw blood everywhere, and I thought my mom was dead,' she said, adding that she would have taken her mother's place.

The victim is expected to be released from hospital in the coming weeks and her husband Enrique said doctors told them she's lucky to be alive.

Evelyn, 15, (left) was in the bathroom and sister Elizabeth, 13, (right) was in her bedroom when she heard glass fall

The woman is expected to be released from hospital this week and the victim's daughter said she would have taken her place

'She's a hero,' Enrique told KTLA.

Occupants of a BMW stopped the stabbing when they rushed to help Mrs Palos.

'He went after my friend Mary with a knife, and I ran one way, she ran the other way and he chased him around the car, like, multiple times,' Kelly Meyer recalled about how multiple people tried to deter him. 'And then he hopped in my car and he took it.'

Husband Enrique Palos called his wife 'a hero' and revealed doctors said she's lucky to be alive

Melendrez's Lake Forest rampage continued after the carjacking as he got into two hit-and-run collisions, leaving a woman in her 50s in critical condition.

He then tried to get into more homes after he crashed that car into another vehicle.

When he was unsuccessful he stole another motor, according to police.

Finally a cyclist pepper sprayed Melendrez and he was soon arrested.

Cops say he was detained only nine minutes after he began the rampage.

Orange County Sheriff's Department said before stabbing the woman, Melendrez got into a physical altercation around 5pm near the Salvation Army, then chased two people out of their apartment on Ridge Route Drive.