A teenage Texas girl who lured her to a date online only to rob and shoot him to death with the help of her boyfriend has been charged with murder.
Natalie Navarro, 17, and her boyfriend Yordy Martinez, 21, face the same charges in the death of Arturo Pena, 21.
Pena was found shot to death in his car in a park in Garland, Texas, just outside Dallas, on August 27.
“My understanding is that Natalie agreed to meet Arturo in the park, and Arturo thought he was just meeting Natalie. He didn’t believe anyone else would be there,” said Garland Police Lt. Richard Maldonado CBSTexas.
Maldonado added that the couple wanted “properties that he had.”
Arturo Pena, 21, was shot dead in Texas after being lured on a date by a 17-year-old girl
Natalie Navarro, 17, is charged with capital murder in the shooting and robbery of Arturo Pena, a man she met online
Navarro’s boyfriend, Yordi Martinez, is still on the run and wanted for murder. This is a photo of a jail booking on an unrelated charge
“I am very sad because they took away a piece of my heart,” Magaly Villarreal, Peña’s mother, told the newspaper. local station.
‘He always laughed, smiled and that’s how I want to remember him. He had a heart of gold and he was very loved.”
Police believe Navarro met Pena in person two weeks before his fatal shooting in an attempt to entrap him.
The indictment alleges that Navarro “then and there unlawfully intentionally caused the death of” Pena by shooting him, Fox News reported.
The killing occurred “during an attempted” robbery of Pena’s belongings when she allegedly shot him, the complaint said.
Under Texas law, murders that occur while a second crime is being committed may qualify as capital murder.
Navarro’s jail booking photo after he went on the run and was sent back to Dallas to face charges
Capital murder is the only crime eligible for the death penalty in the Lone Star State, although it is unclear whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty in this case.
Pena was reported missing by his family on the day of the shooting, but he was not found until August 29, when police received a report of an unconscious person in a vehicle.
It turned out to be Pena’s lifeless body.
Meanwhile, Navarro and Martinez fled Dallas.
Navarro was reported missing by her family and police issued an Amber Alert for her, which was later withdrawn.
By the time she was found at the U.S.-Mexico border near Laredo, Texas, on September 1, an arrest warrant had been issued for her and her boyfriend.
When first taken into custody, Navarro reportedly admitted to the robbery but insisted Martinez was responsible for the murder. according to media reports.
“I’m having a little bit of a break just because I need Yordy Martinez in jail too. I want the maximum punishment for them for taking my son’s life. They can’t have life if he doesn’t have life,” Villarreal said.
Pena’s family has hired a private investigator to track down Martinez. the local Fox station reported.
“I have every confidence that the Garland Police Department will catch him,” private investigator Daniel Gomez told the local newspaper.
“I’ll tell you right now that the only thing that bothers me right now is that there’s a killer on the loose, and you have to ask yourself this question: Who will be next?”