Maria Gonzalez killed in Pasadena: Suspect Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez arrested for capital murder
PASADENA, Texas - A suspect has been taken into custody for the death of an 11-year-old girl who was found dead in her family’s Pasadena apartment a week ago.
Police say Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, has been charged with capital murder in the death of Maria Gonzalez.
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Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez (left); Maria Gonzalez (right)
Police previously identified Garcia-Rodriguez as a person of interest in the case. Police announced Saturday that investigators were able to obtain information and evidence implicating him in the murder.
A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was taken into custody by police in Shreveport, La. He will be extradited back to Harris County.
April Aguirre, a community advocate in Pasadena, spoke to FOX 26 on behalf of the family Saturday and thanks the community members for stepping up to help police make an arrest.
"We passed out hundreds of fliers, and the image of that individual was blasted all over town and nationally," says Aguirre. "People started reporting sightings. Our law enforcement can only be as efficient as the partnership is with the community."
Maria was found dead on Aug. 12 at an apartment in the 1000 block of Main in Pasadena.
Earlier in the day, police say Maria texted her father while he was at work about someone knocking on the door to their apartment.
When he got home around 3 p.m., police say her father found her body in a trash bag, inside a laundry bin, underneath a mattress.
According to the medical examiner’s office, the girl died from asphyxiation due to strangulation. Police say she had also been sexually assaulted.
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On Friday, police identified Garcia-Rodriguez as a person of interest in the case and asked for the public’s help to locate him. According to police, the 18-year-old was living at the same apartment complex but left.
Aguirre says Garcia-Rodriguez, an immigrant from Guatemala, was only at the complex for three weeks and just arrived in the states a few months before. She was told the 18-year-old had a sponsor in Baton Rouge.
"When you have someone who is undocumented, you can't trace a credit or debit card, and you don't have any particular plates on a car that's owned. It's like chasing a ghost," she says.
Police say capital murder charges were later accepted by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and he was taken into custody.
"Now we have the real fight ahead of us once this individual is extradited back to Harris County," says Aguirre. "We are asking for judges to not see the fact that this is just an 18-year-old young man. This is a cold blooded murder who didn't give any mercy to Maria Gonzalez. So we expect no mercy for him."
Aguirre says, although they are grieving, Maria's family members felt some relief after the arrest was made.
"This is something that comes out of horror movies," says Aguirre. "Now the family can truly focus on grieving their daughter."