HOUSTON – A judge denied a bond reduction for the man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, dumping her body in the trunk of her car, and then confessing to police.
Ariel Cruz remains in jail on a $500,000 bond.
Idania Campos’s family is still angry and upset about Cruz helping them search for her last week.
“I was angry. I saw my mom… how she tried to resist… she cannot even look at him, but I just wanted to see his eyes and he could not even look at me,” Jennifer Campos said.
Jennifer is talking about Ariel Cruz. The 19-year-old confessed to police about killing his ex-girlfriend Idania Campos and stuffing her body in the trunk of her car.
On Monday, a judge denied his request for a bond reduction. Idania’s family hoped for a higher bond and fears Cruz will get out and hurt someone else.
“It is because of what he did. It is bad. He took my sister’s life. Even though he can pay, I feel like he can be out there doing the same thing to other women,” Campos said.
Her sister Jennifer says Cruz has threatened her before.
“He showed me a picture of his gun and you know that is bad. I just stayed quiet and my sister Idania, she told him to not to talk to me like that,” she said.
Court records show Cruz helped the family search for Idania and spent time with them grieving. KPRC 2’s Re’Chelle Turner spoke to Dr. Naftali Garcia-Berrill over the phone about that. He works as a forensic psychiatrist in New York but is not connected to this case.
Garcia-Berrill says Cruz played games with the victim’s family by helping them look for Idania.
“That happens quite often, they actively in public grieve the fact that their loved one is missing yet in reality, they are the person who is to blame. He knew where the body was,” Dr. Garcia-Berill said.
Prosecutors said investigators recovered what they believe to be the murder weapon in Cruz’s bedroom. His defense attorney Casey Little Gonzalez spoke to KPRC 2 after Monday’s hearing.
“There’s been no testing done on that, so there’s no indication that it’s the murder weapon,” she said.
Idania’s family is still trying to make sense of the tragedy and says they continue to push for justice.
“We just want him to stay in jail forever,” Jennifer said.
The family will lay Idania to rest next week.