Law&Crime Sidebar - Teen Confessed to Allegedly Murdering 11-Year-Old Texas Girl, Stuffing Her in Trash Bag

Episode Date: August 21, 2023

Every father’s worst nightmare became a reality for Maria Gonzalez’s dad when he came home and found her body under a mattress, stuffed in a trash bag on August 12. Authorities identified Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez and charged the 18-year-old with capital murder after he allegedly confessed to sexually assaulting and killing the young girl. The Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy discusses the horrific case with retired NYPD Sgt. SDS Joe Giacalone.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Save 10% on your entire POM Pepper Spray order by using code LAWCRIME10 at https://bit.ly/3rkw6gnLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. That grief is intensified when justice is lacking. And sadly, right now, justice is lacking for Maria and her family. And we know somebody out there knows who committed this incredibly horrific, evil, heinous murder. Justice could soon be coming for an 11-year-old girl sexually assaulted and murdered. Her killer is now behind bars after a brief manhunt. We have the sad story of the murder of Maria Gonzalez and the one piece of evidence that police say led them to her killer.

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and your loved ones quality safety performance peace of mind learn more at palm pepper spray dot com welcome to law and crime sidebar podcast i'm an janet levy maria gonzalez was an innocent 11-year-old girl who lived in pasadena texas outside of houston a little more than a week ago on saturday august 12th maria's father went to work early in the morning she stayed at their apartment but texted her father throughout the day, according to police. Pasadena police said her last message to her dad said that someone was knocking on their door. That afternoon, Maria's dad called 911 and said that he had found his daughter under a bed. She was in a trash bag that had been placed in a laundry basket under the bed.

Maria was not breathing, an autopsy revealed she died after being strangled. As police and crime scene investigators worked the case, they found a piece of evidence. that broke the case wide open. It was a single key. That key has been crucial and helping us move this case forward. The investigators at the process of the key found out that the key did not go to the victim's apartment and so started checking other apartments and we found that it opened another apartment there in the apartment complex. Police looked into the key further and found it unlocked in a apartment where an 18-year-old man named Wong Carlos Garcia Rodriguez was staying.

First responders made the scene on Saturday, and the investigators followed them up. They began interviewing neighbors in the apartment complex, other witnesses. And as part of that was the interview here at the person of interest. And this image that we're releasing today is a still image from our department's body camera system. police had interviewed Garcia Rodriguez and many other people at the apartment complex after finding Maria. On Friday, they released a photo of him from police body camera footage. They asked the public to help find him, and that happened on Saturday. Police in Shreveport, Louisiana, four hours to the north of Pasadena, took Garcia Rodriguez into custody. One TV station

in Houston is reporting that he confessed to killing Maria. Garcia Rodriguez will be extradigues, will be extradited to Texas to face a capital murder charge. Meanwhile, the police chief in Pasadena said Garcia Rodriguez was in the country illegally during a press conference on Friday. He was fairly new to the apartment complex. He'd only been there three or four weeks. Try to keep, you know, easy for you. They're off in Guatemala, and so it was a connection of a connection of, hey, I got a friend

that needs somewhere to stay. And so he was living with these folks for three to four weeks. They didn't really know him that well because, again, it was somebody asking if he could stay with him. And so, you know, they weren't during the daytime. In the process of interviewing neighbors, investigators took a DNA sample from Garcia Rodriguez when they interviewed him. The police chief says he was not a person of interest at that time because they had cast a wide net at the apartment. complex. Maria's family had issued a plea to the public on Friday. We are very thankful to passing the police department, all of the investigators and everybody that has put in work,

including crime stoppers. We are grateful that everybody has cooperated to find us justice. Today at 7 p.m., we're going to be having a vigil at the apartment complex where this happened at 1004 Main Street, Passing to Texas 77506. We are grateful for the community, and unfortunately, we do not have the strength to be up here and speak today. So I'm speaking on their behalf. Thank you so much. Following the arrest, Maria's family issued a statement. They said 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. Joining me to discuss the incredibly sad and

horrific murder of Maria Gonzalez is Joe Jackalone. He's a retired NYPD sergeant. He was in the cold case unit and he's a frequent guest here on law and crime. Joe, welcome back to Sidebar. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me back. What's your first thought about this case? I mean, I couldn't believe it when I heard about it. Just when you think you can't hear about something that is worse than what you've heard about before, this poor girl at home, texting with dad while he's at work. Somebody's at the door. He comes home. He comes home. from work and finds her dead under a bed. Yeah, you can't imagine the horror in this.

And specifically, the father has to uncover this crime scene, you know, where his daughter is allegedly stuffed in a bag in the laundry basket under the bed. And, you know, he's telling her on the phone, according to what they were saying is that, you know, don't open the door because you're saying, you know, dad, somebody's knocking on the door, you know, don't open the door. It's something, listen, all crimes are horrific specifically when you have a murderer and a rape, but when it is a young child, it is just impactful. for the investigators and everybody involved in this.

And you hope that people do get some help because these are really tough scenes to get through. Maria, I just can't imagine what her final moments were like. Luckily, fortunately, her killer, her suspected killer, I should say, innocent until proven guilty, obviously made a big mistake. They're saying this key that was left in the apartment by the perpetrator is really what broke this case wide open. Well, this is a great lesson for all. law enforcement agencies out there because most people would overlook a key because they would

think that the key was part of the house there and just never find that and just basically hope for DNA at the crime scene but here you have a couple of investigators that identify this key and think it's evidence right the rule is basically if you think it's evidence you take it because you can't get a second chance to do this again so it's absolutely amazing on the part of the law enforcement agency here to identify that key and then go through the entire building and find the key and find the door that it opens. I mean, and there you go. There you have your suspect. So it's absolutely amazing how this happened. One thing that impressed me was the fact that they actually had his photo from body camera footage. They had done a canvas. They were interviewing residents of the

apartment building to either eliminate them or investigate them further. This is someone that they interviewed after this happened. He's sitting there. I mean, we have his photo and he had provided a DNA sample, which they're still analyzing. So they had a really good lead to go on because they had reached out. And obviously, they're trying to interview everybody in this apartment complex so they can determine whether or not they can be eliminated, as I mentioned, or maybe they're a suspect. So they were able to put out a fresh photo of Juan Carlos Garcia Rodriguez. This is actually a textbook example about how homicide investigation should work, right? So they're doing a canvas they're doing what we refer to as a neighborhood canvas with a knocking on doors asking for

help and information and here they actually found somebody and they actually probably swabbed them right so not only did they interview them but then here's again the body cam right so here the new technology helps thor enforcement identify this girl's killer so it's absolutely amazing about what what transpired in this whole case and it's it's something that remember body cam footage was put out because they thought the police were acting badly but we're finding out now it's not so much the police, but the public, but it's also become a great investigative tool. Most definitely. One thing that's concerning about this case, too, is the fact that they say that Garcia Rodriguez was really only at this apartment complex for a short time. He was in the

country illegally. He was an undocumented immigrant, and I guess he was having some issues. So some friends of his contacted their friends and at this apartment complex and said, Can he stay with you for a little bit? And then this whole thing unfolds. I guess Customs and Border Patrol had had some contact with him earlier this year. But just a really sad thing because he went into this community and then is accused of doing something incredibly heinous to a child. Yes, and for law enforcement now, they need to go back to find out why this group of people wanted him out of that location where he could stay somewhere else. Right.

So is there another incident? But unfortunately, when you're dealing with communities such as this, they fear the police, right? Because they're worried about getting deported. They're worried about getting sent back. So the cooperation becomes close to zero. But there could have been other potential crimes that are involved in this. And this is a really tough thing for law enforcement to try to figure out because, like I said, it's about the secrecy. They're transient.

They're moving around a lot. And they might not ever uncover another victim in this. But it just goes to show you that when law enforcement has the tools and the leadership that's necessary to do these things, they can work pretty quickly because they were able to track this guy down to Shreveport, Louisiana. And this was a relatively quick investigation. I mean, this happened on Saturday the 12th, and he was taken into custody on Saturday the 19th. So seven days later. So I felt like they really did a good job of identifying what was the important evidence in this case, the key, and then putting that all together and then having that photo out,

getting this guy in custody. There are some people reporting, some stations, TV stations reporting that he has confessed. And so it does seem to have happened really quickly. And that's good because of the thing that you mentioned with a lot of the times people in communities like the Latino, Hispanic community who are undocumented don't want to cooperate with the police because they're fearful. They will be deported. But in a case like this, they're not going to go in there and round people up to deport them. The focus is on solving the homicide. Right. And I think the law enforcement executive there should actually say that, right, do a press conference and tell everybody, listen, we're investigating now where he came from everywhere this guy has lived and we need to talk

to the people and you have no fear of anybody being deported because I think it's important because the chances of having other victims. There's a reason why they wanted this guy out in somewhere else. For me, I think that's an important message that it needs to be sent to the community. Well, Joe Jekyllone, thank you so much for coming on, as always, and offering your time and your expertise. And I know our thoughts and prayers go out to Maria Gonzalez's family. Yes, they do. That's it for this edition of Law and Crime's Sidebar podcast. You can listen to and download Sidebar on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your podcasts.

And of course, you can always watch it on Law and Crimes YouTube channel. Just remember to hit the subscribe button. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and we will see you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.