18-year-old arrested for alleged murder of 11-year-old Texan girl.
An 18-year-old Arrested for Allegedly Assaulting and Murdering 11-Year-Old Texas Girl
Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, was arrested this weekend by the Shreveport Police Department in Louisiana and is expected to be charged with capital murder, KHOU 11 reported. He is currently awaiting extradition back to Pasadena, Texas.
Police Connect Garcia-Rodriguez to the Crime
Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said Garcia-Rodriguez was interviewed and that his DNA was collected on the day 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez was found dead in the apartment she shared with her father. At the time, he wasn’t on police radar and was merely interviewed along with others in the apartment building. In the days following, however, police say they collected additional information and evidence that linked him to Maria’s death.
Roommate’s Shocking Revelation
Garcia-Rodriguez had been living in the apartment building for just a few weeks before the murder, KHOU 11 reported. His roommate told ABC13 that he thought Garcia-Rodriguez was a “good person, but no, he’s not a good person.”
Full Confession and Suspicious Behavior
Sources told ABC 13 that Garcia-Rodriguez fully confessed to the murder. Garcia-Rodriguez’s roommate, who asked not to be identified, also told ABC that the 18-year-old was acting normal on the day of the murder. The roommate said he didn’t think anything was wrong until Maria’s uncle knocked on the door looking for her.
“He checked in the restroom, the closet, looking for her,” the roommate said.
Days after Maria’s body was found, Garcia-Rodriguez reportedly told his roommate that he was leaving for a job out of town but insisted he would return soon.
Family Seeks Justice
In response to the arrest, Maria’s father released a statement thanking the police and everyone who participated in the investigation.
“This arrest has brought the family and community some peace. We are extremely thankful that he cannot cause this type of pain to anybody again,” the family said, according to KHOU 11. “I ask for those who are in charge to give us justice. May he be burdened with the full weight of the law, for what he has done to my daughter.”
Heartbreaking Details of Maria’s Final Moments
Carmelo Gonzalez, 32, had gone to work that morning when he received a text from his young daughter saying a stranger was knocking on their door, Fox 26 reported.
“I told her, ‘Don’t open the door because I am arriving at work,’ and she responded, ‘I am in my bed,’” Gonzalez told the KHOU, adding that his daughter was a good and quiet girl who had just turned 11.
Sometime later, Gonzalez asked relatives who lived in the same apartment building to check on his daughter “because he hadn’t heard from her,” Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said at a press conference Tuesday, according to the New York Post.
“I called and called and called,” Gonzalez told KHOU.
Maria’s aunt and uncle went to the apartment where Gonzalez and his daughter lived alone and found the door was unlocked. When they searched the home, however, they “were unable to locate” Maria after a “cursory check,” Bruegger said.
Gonzalez returned home at 3 p.m., five hours after his daughter’s text. He found the young girl’s body inside a laundry basket that had been pushed under his bed.
“They left her under the bed in a plastic bag. They left my poor daughter,” Gonzalez told Fox 26.
Tragic Details of Maria’s Death
Bruegger announced at the press conference that Maria had been sexually assaulted before she was strangled and had blunt-force trauma to the head. A medical examiner confirmed the findings.
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