Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, accused in Texas of raping and strangling to death the 11-year-old Guatemalan minor María Elena Gonzálezis also originally from that Central American country.
Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, He lived in the apartment next to the one that María Elena shared with her father and in which the crime was reported.
García-Rodríguez entered the United States illegally.
According to information from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) cited by the Univision network, Garcia-Rodriguez illegally entered the United States near El Paso, Texas, on January 8..
He was detained by the United States Border Patrol(CBP) and transferred to the Central Processing Center in that city.
However, later It was delivered to a sponsor in Louisiana on February 4. It is unclear who exactly the Central American was residing with when he was released by immigration authorities. Nor how he ended up living in Pasadena and since when.
He was captured in Shreveport, Louisiana.
After the crime reported on August 12, the boy moved back to Louisiana where he was captured by police officers in Shreveport. On August 19, the authorities in that district announced his arrest.
On August 24, he appeared at an initial hearing in Harris County Court 184 after being extradited.
Voluntarily went to the police
At that court date, prosecutors revealed that García-Rodríguez voluntarily went to the Shreveport Police Department and he initially told officers he was innocent and had not committed the crime.
As the days go by, The Guatemalan changed his version and supposedly admitted that he was involved in the murder.
Accused alleged that he was forced to sexually abuse María Elena
Prosecutors also argued that García-Rodríguez acknowledged that it was the copy of the key to his apartment that was found in the victim’s.
Another allegation by the undocumented immigrant is that he sexually abused the girl, allegedly forced by two black men at gunpoint.
At the moment, the authorities do not believe that there are more involved in the crime.
Key at crime scene led to identification as suspect
The defendant’s former roommates revealed to the authorities that this had moved out of the property a few days after the murder of the minor because he had supposedly found employment elsewhere; but when they asked for the key back, he refused to give it back. Since her refusal seemed suspicious, another of the tenants decided to change the lock.
Before García-Rodríguez moved to Louisiana, authorities in Pasadena had interviewed him and other neighbors as part of the investigation into the case. But, at the time, there was no evidence directly linking him to the crime.
The discovery of the key was what altered the course of the investigation.
Mario Madrid, García-Rodríguez’s lawyer, told local media that the allegations against your client are not proof of guilt.
“This is an accusation. In the criminal justice system, that accusation is merely an allegation“He declared as quoted by ABC 13. “My client has the right to go to trial and defend himself.and at this point, he is innocent until the state proves him guilty,” he argued.
Father and daughter talked about García-Rodríguez hours before the murder
María Elena’s father told officials that, in the last conversation on WhatsApp that he had with his daughter while working, she told him that someone was knocking on the door. The man instructed her not to open it. After that he did not receive messages from the girl again.
Additional, hours before the crime, The minor spoke with her father about the alleged murderer.
the conversation arose after González heard the young man talking on the cell phonein one of the stairs near the house.
the progenitor asked him who was the person who was talking on the phone when she returned to the apartment after taking out the trash.
“The (now) deceased informed her that the subject was talking on the phone on the stairs it was the neighbor with long hair”, according to the complaint.
The father found his daughter dead at about 2:30 p.m.the same day when he returned from work.
the body was inside a garbage bag in a laundry basket under the bed in one of the rooms.
Garcia-Rodriguez faces capital murder charges so if convicted could be sentenced to death.
Keep reading:
María Elena González, an 11-year-old minor raped and murdered in an apartment in Texas, dreamed of returning to Guatemala
They release the booking photo of Juan Carlos García Rodríguez, accused of raping and killing the Guatemalan girl María Elena González in Texas
