Texas prosecutors drop murder charges against 2 of 3 people in fatal stabbing of Seattle woman
DALLAS– Prosecutors in Texas have dropped murder charges against two people in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old Seattle woman, while the trial of the third suspect continues.
The 2020 murder of Marisela Botello-Valadez drew international attention last year when two of the people arrested in her killing cut off their ankle monitors and left the country while out on bail. The dismissal of charges comes just days after a Texas man who cut off his ankle monitor went on a shooting spree, drawing renewed attention to questions about the use of technology in freeing people ahead of their trials.
The trial of Lisa Dykes, who remains charged with murder, began last week and continued on Monday. But new public court records show that a judge on Friday approved prosecutors' motions to dismiss murder charges against the other woman and a man also charged in Botello-Valadez's killing “in the interest of justice .”
A spokesperson for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office did not respond to a phone call and email Monday about why they dropped murder charges against Nina Marano and Charles Anthony Beltran. All still face charges of tampering with evidence linked to the death of Botello-Valadez, whose remains were found in the woods months after she was reported missing in Dallas.
Attorneys for the couple and van Dykes did not respond to calls and emails from The Associated Press seeking comment. An attorney representing Marano, 52, and Dykes, 60, told The Dallas Morning News he expected the dismissals because Beltran's account of events was inconsistent.
Beltran, 34, testified Friday that he lived with Marano and Dykes. He said he met Botello-Valadez at a nightclub and the two went to his house, where they had sex. He said he fell asleep and woke up screaming when Dykes stabbed Botello-Valadez. Under questioning by Dykes' attorney, Beltran acknowledged that he initially lied to investigators about what happened.
The trio was arrested six months after Botello-Valadez went missing in October 2020. Marano and Dykes were released on $500,000 bonds, but last Christmas they simultaneously removed their GPS trackers and left the country, according to court records. They eventually ended up in Cambodia, where they were arrested by local police with the help of the FBI.
Another murder in Dallas last year prompted Texas lawmakers to enact a law making cutting off an ankle monitor a crime. The new measure went into effect in September, weeks after authorities in San Antonio received a call about a man who had previously cut off his ankle monitor due to a mental health crisis.
Sheriff's deputies did not arrest the man, Shane James Jr., in the August encounter and he has now been charged with capital murder in a series of shootings that left six people dead in Austin and San Antonio this month.