Police: Suspect in custody; charged with murder of 11-year-old girl found strangled under bed

PASADENA, Texas — Police say the suspect who was wanted in the murder of Maria Gonzalez in Pasadena, Texas, was taken into custody in Louisiana.

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The Pasadena Police Department in a news release said that Juan Carols Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, was taken into custody by police in Shreveport, Louisiana. Investigators are waiting for him to be extradited back to Texas.

Garcia-Rodriguez is accused of sexually assaulting and killing the young girl before he stashed her body under her bed, The Associated Press reported.

The police department said Saturday that investigators were able to get additional evidence that reportedly linked Garcia-Rodriguez to the crime, according to the AP.

On Tuesday, Gonzalez, 11, was pronounced dead in her apartment after her father called 911 just after 3 p.m. CDT, according to a news release.

The girl’s father, Carmelo Gonzalez, said he had been at work and received a text from his daughter at about 10 a.m. on Saturday, stating that someone was knocking at the front door of their suburban Houston apartment, KRIV-TV reported.

“I told her don’t open the door because I am arriving at work, and she responded I am in my bed,” Gonzalez told the television station.

Garcia-Rodriguez is facing capital murder charges, according to the police department.