PASADENA, Texas – Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez was arrested and charged with capital murder in the death of 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez, the Pasadena Police Department said on Saturday.
Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, was arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana by local police, and he is awaiting extradition back to Texas. Officers also found more “corroborating information and evidence” that led to the man being charged.
The Gonzalez family shared the following statement about the arrest.
“We want to say thank you to the Pasadena Police Department and to Louisiana police and any officials that participated in bringing this cold-blooded murderer into custody. This arrest has brought the family and community some peace. We are extremely thankful that he cannot cause this type of pain to anybody again. I ask for those who are in charge to give us justice. May he be burdened with the full weight of the law, for what he has done to my daughter.”
On Friday, the Pasadena Police Department released a photo of a person of interest in connection to the death of the girl who was strangled and sexually assaulted at her family’s apartment at 1004 Main Street.
Police said Garcia-Rodriguez, from Guatemala, was residing at the same apartment complex where the victim was found, but he later left. He was last seen at the apartment complex at around 4 p.m. Monday and is suspected of being moved around and hidden by people, investigators said.
Watch the full news conference from Friday:
Investigators said Garcia-Rodriguez was in Pasadena living with two other people for about four weeks. Before that, he was reportedly in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with people that sponsored him in order to be released by immigration.
According to Pasadena PD, all apartment complex employees, including the maintenance staff, have fully cooperated with the investigation and at this point, do not appear to be involved.
Investigators said as they were processing the crime scene, a single key was located inside the apartment and collected as evidence. The key was processed by crime scene investigators and was not found to open any doors at the victim’s residence, officers said. Authorities also have a DNA sample from Garcia-Rodriguez.
Police confirmed that Maria’s body was found inside a plastic trash bag that was placed inside a laundry basket and concealed under a bed inside the home. Pasadena PD said they will continue to work with the Institute of Forensic Sciences, which is assisting with the analysis of multiple pieces of evidence.
The apartment Garcia was staying in is just a few steps away from the door of the apartment Gonzalez lived in.
Garcia’s roommate said he never imagined Garcia would be accused in Gonzalez’ murder.
For two days, Garcia’s roommate said he didn’t realize he was living with a suspected killer. He asked to remain anonymous. He said he was not home at the time of the murder.
The roommate said police took both his and Garcia’s DNA samples as part of the investigation.
On Monday, Garcia told his roommate he was leaving for a job out of town. HIs roommate said he made him a copy of the apartment key and asked Garcia to leave it since he was leaving. He said Garcia told him that he planned on coming back so he would hold on to the key.
Police said the key was left inside Gonzalez’ apartment and was found after her murder.
Detectives didn’t have to go far to learn the key matched the lock to Garcia’s apartment, right next door.
Maria’s father is now fighting for justice in Pasadena while her mother grieves from Guatemala.
Police said Garcia will have a hearing on Monday and the extradition will happen after that.
Crime Stoppers has also created a GoFundMe to help Maria’s family pay for her funeral expenses.