A Guatemalan immigrant who entered the US in January and was accused of raping and murdering his 11-year-old neighbor has been taken into custody.
Maria Gonzalez’s body was found by her father at their home in Pasadena, Texas, on Saturday, August 12, when he returned home from work. She had also been sexually assaulted, police said.
Pasadena police called 18-year-old Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez a “person of interest” and the prime suspect in the case — with a key left in the little girl’s home being a vital piece of evidence.
Authorities in Shreveport, Louisiana, took Rodriguez into custody Saturday after Harris County, Texas officials charged him with capital murder in connection with the girl’s death.
Police said Garcia-Rodriguez “lived in the same apartment complex where the victim was found” before her death.
Maria Gonzalez’s body was found by her father at their Pasadena, Texas home on Saturday, August 12. The 11-year-old was found strangled under her bed.
He was there for several weeks and was last seen in the complex two days after the brutal murder.
Garcia-Rodriguez allegedly entered the US in January. He crossed the border into El Paso, Texas. After “turning himself in,” it was believed the teenager, who was 17 when he crossed over, was subsequently released.
Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, is the prime suspect in the case. He was taken into custody on August 19 – a week after the murder
Detectives released a photo of Garcia-Rodriguez with their call and also offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest or indictment.
Sources at the Department of Homeland Security report this NewsNation that he is believed to have fled to Mexico before police apprehended him on Saturday.
Garcia-Rodriguez was released after entering the US because he had a sponsor in Louisiana. A sponsor typically agrees to provide housing or financial support for a migrant while they are processed and their status is determined.
Maria’s father had called the police around 3 p.m. on August 12 after finding his daughter’s lifeless body under a bed.
Her body was placed in a plastic bag placed in a clothes basket, which was then hidden under the bed. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Police said the girl’s father, Carmelo Gonzalez, 32, found her after she came home from work. She had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
At a press conference – six days after the murder – Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger called Garcia-Rodriguez a “person of interest”
Detectives initially said they had no suspects in the case and urged anyone with information that could apprehend Maria’s killer to come forward.
In a press conference – six days after the discovery – they called Garcia-Rodriguez a “person of interest.”
Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said detectives at the crime scene found a key that did not match the locks on the property.
They found that it was indeed linked to another address in the apartment complex where Garcia-Rodriguez was staying.
“We have turned over quite a bit of evidence to the Institute of Forensic Science,” he said, adding that DNA evidence would be processed. Police have a DNA sample for Garcia-Rodriguez, he said.
“He was last seen at the apartment complex on Monday (Aug. 14) at 4 p.m.,” the chief said. “His whereabouts are unknown.”
Chief Bruegger said detectives spoke to Garcia-Rodriguez at the apartment complex before he was a suspect. The photo released by officers on Friday was a still from bodycam footage of the interaction.
He lived on an estate with two others who are also from Guatemala.
On the day Maria was discovered, her father had left their apartment for work at about 10 a.m. and had been in contact with his daughter by phone.
Carmelo Gonzalez said he left for work around 10 a.m. on August 12 and communicated with his daughter by phone a little later. Then she told him that a stranger was knocking at the door
Maria and her father Carmelo lived in the apartment complex for about three months, after stays in Florida and Austin, Texas. The girl’s mother lives in Guatemala
To talk with Fox newsCarmelo said the last he heard from her was “in bed.”
Shortly after leaving, Carmelo said he received a message from Maria that someone had knocked on the front door.
“I told her, ‘Don’t open the door, because I’m arriving at work,’ and she replied, ‘I’m in my bed,'” Gonzalez told the outlet.
On Tuesday, Bruegger revealed that Carmelo then called relatives living in the same apartment complex to check on his daughter.
Relatives could not find her, according to authorities. That was until her father came home and found her body.
Her official cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma.
Further investigation revealed that she had also been sexually assaulted.
Law enforcement officials said there was no forcible entry to the home.
The father and daughter lived in the apartment complex for about three months. The girl’s mother lives in Guatemala.
Maria and her father lived in Austin, Texas and Florida before Pasadena. Maria was not registered with Pasadena ISD, police said.
“We are doing our best to get out and solve this crime,” officials said at the time.
Chief Bruegger said detectives spoke to Garcia-Rodriguez at the apartment complex before he was a suspect
Maria and her father had been living in the relatively quiet apartment complex for about three months when the murder took place
“As a parent of an almost 10-year-old myself, it’s certainly a cause for concern.”
Police also took DNA samples from others living in the complex, but say it was challenging to get cooperation.
Tens of thousands of migrants entered the US through El Paso this year.
The crisis has been going on for several years, but peaked around December 2022 as the government prepared to end COVID-era Title 42 rules that made it more difficult to enter the country .
Many present themselves to authorities and are processed before being released.
Most are expected to appear in court at a later date for a trial to determine their status.