April 2
TEXAS:
Neighbor accused in death of 13-year-old Arlington girl
Neighbors at an Arlington apartment complex where a 13-year-old girl was
strangled said they are worried about the safety of their children.
Police remained at Cedar Point Apartments in the 2000 block of Cherry
Point Drive three days after Elizabeth Villa was found in her apartment.
Her mother had tried to wake up Elizabeth for school Monday but she was
not breathing. Police said she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Her neighbor, Rodrigo Sanchez, 24, was arrested Wednesday and charged with
capital murder. He remained in Arlington jail this morning in lieu of $1
million bail.
According to police records, Elizabeth was found lying on her bedroom
floor. Her bedroom window was open and the screen had been removed. An
armoire that had been against the windown had also been pushed aside.
Investigators lifted finger and palm prints from the window and
fingerprints from the furniture, according to police records. Those prints
matched those belonging to Sanchez. The family told police Sanchez had no
reason to be in their apartment.
Sanchez, who lives in the same apartment building as Elizabeth, had been
arrested previously on Class C misdemeanor counts, police said.
Yellow police tape remained outside the Elizabeth's apartment this morning
and flowers had been placed near the apartment.
Regina Busby, who lives upstairs from Sanchez, said she has a 17-year-old
daughter and has warned her about what has happened. "We just haven't gone
outside much since," she said.
Jessica Vargas, 13, was schoolmates with Elizabeth at Hutcheson Junior
High School. "She was a nice girl," Jessica said. "Everyone knew her at
school."
School principal Rose Mary Bolden said Elizabeth was a 7th grader who was
enrolled in honors classes and known for her beautiful smile and bubbly
personality.
"It's been a hard week for everyone," she said. "We're doing everything we
can to help them (students) work through their grief."
The school is planning to hold a memorial service for students and parents
from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday.
A funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Matthew Catholic Church
at 2021 New York Ave.
"We are going to miss her a lot," Bolden said. "She was our little ray of
sunshine."
(source: Dallas Morning News)
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Former Texas nurse charged with injecting 10 patients with bleach, killing
5
A former nurse has been charged with injecting 10 patients with bleach at
a Texas dialysis clinic last year, killing 5 of them.
Kimberly Saenz was indicted by a grand jury on 1 count of capital murder
and 5 counts of aggravated assault in connection with a spate of patient
deaths last April at a DaVita Inc. dialysis center in Texas.
The clinic temporarily shut down last year after the unexplained spike in
deaths, then later reopened under heavy state oversight.
The 35-year-old Saenz is charged with injecting bleach into each of the
patients.
Her attorney, John Henry Tatum, didn't immediately return a call
Wednesday.
(source: Associated Press)