Authorities have apprehended an 18-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting and killing an 11-year-old girl in her family’s suburban Houston apartment. The Pasadena Police Department confirmed the arrest on Saturday, stating that the suspect had been identified as a person of interest the previous day. Following the discovery of additional evidence linking him to the crime, the police arrested him in Shreveport, Louisiana. The suspect is expected to face charges of capital murder and will be extradited to Texas.
According to Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger, investigators had interviewed and collected DNA from the suspect on the day Maria Gonzalez’s body was discovered. However, at that time, he was not considered a suspect. The Gonzalez family expressed their gratitude to the Pasadena and Louisiana police for apprehending the suspect.
Maria Gonzalez was alone at home last Saturday morning when she received a knock at the door. Sensing something amiss, she texted her father, Carmelo Gonzalez, who had just left for work. He advised her not to answer the door, and she assured him that she would stay in bed. However, she did not respond to his subsequent calls. Concerned, Carmelo Gonzalez reached out to his brother and sister-in-law, who lived in the same apartment complex, asking them to check on Maria. Upon entering the apartment, they discovered the front door unlocked and signs of disturbance but no sign of the young girl.
Upon returning home, Carmelo Gonzalez conducted a thorough search of the apartment and tragically found his daughter’s lifeless body concealed under her bed. She had been wrapped in a trash bag and placed inside a laundry basket. Authorities later confirmed that Maria Gonzalez had been strangled to death and sexually assaulted.