SHREVEPORT, LA – An illegal immigrant reportedly from Guatemala was apprehended by local authorities out of Shreveport, Louisiana, in connection with the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl that occurred in Texas earlier in August.
On August 19th, Shreveport police reportedly arrested 18-year-old Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez after having located the suspect in the Caddo Parish area.
Garcia-Rodriguez was wanted for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, Maria Gonzalez, out of Pasadena, Texas, who was discovered strangled to death underneath her bed days earlier.
On August 12th, authorities in Pasadena, Texas, were called out to an apartment complex after Gonzalez’s father made the horrifying discovery of his daughter’s body. According to authorities, the young victim’s father had gotten a text message from his daughter after he’d gone to work.
Apparently, the father left the 11-year-old by herself during his work shift, which in the last message he’d received from his daughter was that someone was knocking at the door. The victim’s father told his daughter not to answer the door, but he never received any additional response back from this brief exchange with his daughter.
After being unable to reach his daughter by phone, the victim’s father contacted some family members to check up on her – however, the family members claimed they couldn’t find her in the apartment.
When the victim’s father arrived at the apartment, he eventually located his daughter wrapped in a garbage bag and stuffed into a laundry basket under her bed.
Following an autopsy, authorities concluded the young victim had been sexually assaulted and had also suffered blunt force trauma to the head and neck prior to her death.
Six days after the young girl’s murder, Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger announced Garcia-Rodriguez as a person of interest in the case, noting he was staying at the same apartment complex as the victim and that Garcia-Rodriguez’s apartment key had been found inside of the victim’s apartment, as well as DNA evidence.
Authorities had reportedly interviewed Garcia-Rodriguez two days after the discovery of the victim’s body, but by the time authorities announced Garcia-Rodriguez as a person of interest in the investigation, he’d already reportedly fled the area.
Records indicate that the in-custody suspect had illegally entered the United States through El Paso, Texas, back in January of 2023, being granted release from federal custody at the time after identifying a sponsor out of Louisiana.
Word of the suspect’s arrest has brought some degree of comfort to the family of the young victim, with the Gonzalez family releasing a statement thanking the efforts from law enforcement and expressing relief that the suspect won’t be on the streets to commit such an offense again.
“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 August 19th, Shreveport police reportedly arrested 18-year-old Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez after having located the suspect in the Caddo Parish area.
Garcia-Rodriguez was wanted for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, Maria Gonzalez, out of Pasadena, Texas, who was discovered strangled to death underneath her bed days earlier.
On August 12th, authorities in Pasadena, Texas, were called out to an apartment complex after Gonzalez’s father made the horrifying discovery of his daughter’s body. According to authorities, the young victim’s father had gotten a text message from his daughter after he’d gone to work.
Apparently, the father left the 11-year-old by herself during his work shift, which in the last message he’d received from his daughter was that someone was knocking at the door. The victim’s father told his daughter not to answer the door, but he never received any additional response back from this brief exchange with his daughter.
After being unable to reach his daughter by phone, the victim’s father contacted some family members to check up on her – however, the family members claimed they couldn’t find her in the apartment.
When the victim’s father arrived at the apartment, he eventually located his daughter wrapped in a garbage bag and stuffed into a laundry basket under her bed.
Following an autopsy, authorities concluded the young victim had been sexually assaulted and had also suffered blunt force trauma to the head and neck prior to her death.
Six days after the young girl’s murder, Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger announced Garcia-Rodriguez as a person of interest in the case, noting he was staying at the same apartment complex as the victim and that Garcia-Rodriguez’s apartment key had been found inside of the victim’s apartment, as well as DNA evidence.
Authorities had reportedly interviewed Garcia-Rodriguez two days after the discovery of the victim’s body, but by the time authorities announced Garcia-Rodriguez as a person of interest in the investigation, he’d already reportedly fled the area.
Records indicate that the in-custody suspect had illegally entered the United States through El Paso, Texas, back in January of 2023, being granted release from federal custody at the time after identifying a sponsor out of Louisiana.
Word of the suspect’s arrest has brought some degree of comfort to the family of the young victim, with the Gonzalez family releasing a statement thanking the efforts from law enforcement and expressing relief that the suspect won’t be on the streets to commit such an offense again.
“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.”
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Comments
2023-09-27T01:38-0500 | Comment by: Stephen
Find this creeps DNA in her body? That should be automatic death sentence. Nothing else will stop this epidemic of child rapes and trafficking for profit. This girls life is now one of emotional pain and mental torments for the rest of her life, she will never feel innocent again.