Carmelo Gonzalez.Photo:ABC13 Houston/YouTubeThe father of an 11-year-old girl who was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death inside her family’s home last weekend is mourning his daughter’s death.“They left her under the bed in a plastic bag,” Carmelo Gonzalez, who was at work at the time of his daughter’s killing, told local Fox 26 News this week. “They left my poor daughter.”Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruggersaidat a news conference Tuesday that Gonzalez, 32, is not a suspect in his daughter Maria Gonzalez’s death, and that he was frantically trying to check in on Maria after she texted him saying there was someone knocking repeatedly at the front door.“I told her don’t open the door because I am arriving at work, and she responded I am in my bed,” Gonzalez told Fox 26.But that’s the last Gonzalez heard from his daughter. Throughout the rest of the day, he tried to reach her on the phone during breaks at work before he finally called relatives who also lived in the Houston area apartment complex.“I called and called and called,” Gonzaleztoldlocal television station KHOU11 earlier this week.Maria’s aunt – Gonzalez’s sister-in-law – went over to check on Maria and found the apartment door unlocked. When she entered, Chief Brugger told reporters the woman thought things were out of place and quickly backed out of the apartment, hurrying to get her husband, Gonzalez’s brother, to come check the unit with her.The aunt and uncle could not find Maria, however, prompting Gonzalez to rush home from work. “He immediately went home,” the police chief said.Gonzalez soon found his daughter’s body under the bed, Chief Brugger said.Police do not currently have a suspect and have asked neighbors to come forward if they saw anything suspicious that morning.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.Brugger said the child’s killing has taken a toll on a number of officers who arrived at the scene, as well as the Gonzalez family and the apartment building’s other residents.“There’s a large Guatemalan population there in the apartment complex,” the police chief said. “It’s a fairly close community there.”Gonzalez and his daughter had moved to the United States from Guatemala about four years ago, first living in Florida before moving to Austin, Texas, and later Pasadena, an eastern suburb of Houston. Maria’s mother still lives in Guatemala, police said.“She was a sweet little girl,” one neighbor told KHOU11, adding that the community had just gathered to celebrate her 11th birthday earlier this summer. “A little angel.“If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
Carmelo Gonzalez.Photo:ABC13 Houston/YouTube
ABC13 Houston/YouTube
The father of an 11-year-old girl who was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death inside her family’s home last weekend is mourning his daughter’s death.“They left her under the bed in a plastic bag,” Carmelo Gonzalez, who was at work at the time of his daughter’s killing, told local Fox 26 News this week. “They left my poor daughter.”Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruggersaidat a news conference Tuesday that Gonzalez, 32, is not a suspect in his daughter Maria Gonzalez’s death, and that he was frantically trying to check in on Maria after she texted him saying there was someone knocking repeatedly at the front door.“I told her don’t open the door because I am arriving at work, and she responded I am in my bed,” Gonzalez told Fox 26.But that’s the last Gonzalez heard from his daughter. Throughout the rest of the day, he tried to reach her on the phone during breaks at work before he finally called relatives who also lived in the Houston area apartment complex.“I called and called and called,” Gonzaleztoldlocal television station KHOU11 earlier this week.Maria’s aunt – Gonzalez’s sister-in-law – went over to check on Maria and found the apartment door unlocked. When she entered, Chief Brugger told reporters the woman thought things were out of place and quickly backed out of the apartment, hurrying to get her husband, Gonzalez’s brother, to come check the unit with her.The aunt and uncle could not find Maria, however, prompting Gonzalez to rush home from work. “He immediately went home,” the police chief said.Gonzalez soon found his daughter’s body under the bed, Chief Brugger said.Police do not currently have a suspect and have asked neighbors to come forward if they saw anything suspicious that morning.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.Brugger said the child’s killing has taken a toll on a number of officers who arrived at the scene, as well as the Gonzalez family and the apartment building’s other residents.“There’s a large Guatemalan population there in the apartment complex,” the police chief said. “It’s a fairly close community there.”Gonzalez and his daughter had moved to the United States from Guatemala about four years ago, first living in Florida before moving to Austin, Texas, and later Pasadena, an eastern suburb of Houston. Maria’s mother still lives in Guatemala, police said.“She was a sweet little girl,” one neighbor told KHOU11, adding that the community had just gathered to celebrate her 11th birthday earlier this summer. “A little angel.“If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
The father of an 11-year-old girl who was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death inside her family’s home last weekend is mourning his daughter’s death.“They left her under the bed in a plastic bag,” Carmelo Gonzalez, who was at work at the time of his daughter’s killing, told local Fox 26 News this week. “They left my poor daughter.”
Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruggersaidat a news conference Tuesday that Gonzalez, 32, is not a suspect in his daughter Maria Gonzalez’s death, and that he was frantically trying to check in on Maria after she texted him saying there was someone knocking repeatedly at the front door.
“I told her don’t open the door because I am arriving at work, and she responded I am in my bed,” Gonzalez told Fox 26.
But that’s the last Gonzalez heard from his daughter. Throughout the rest of the day, he tried to reach her on the phone during breaks at work before he finally called relatives who also lived in the Houston area apartment complex.
“I called and called and called,” Gonzaleztoldlocal television station KHOU11 earlier this week.
Maria’s aunt – Gonzalez’s sister-in-law – went over to check on Maria and found the apartment door unlocked. When she entered, Chief Brugger told reporters the woman thought things were out of place and quickly backed out of the apartment, hurrying to get her husband, Gonzalez’s brother, to come check the unit with her.
The aunt and uncle could not find Maria, however, prompting Gonzalez to rush home from work. “He immediately went home,” the police chief said.
Gonzalez soon found his daughter’s body under the bed, Chief Brugger said.Police do not currently have a suspect and have asked neighbors to come forward if they saw anything suspicious that morning.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Brugger said the child’s killing has taken a toll on a number of officers who arrived at the scene, as well as the Gonzalez family and the apartment building’s other residents.
“There’s a large Guatemalan population there in the apartment complex,” the police chief said. “It’s a fairly close community there.”
Gonzalez and his daughter had moved to the United States from Guatemala about four years ago, first living in Florida before moving to Austin, Texas, and later Pasadena, an eastern suburb of Houston. Maria’s mother still lives in Guatemala, police said.
“She was a sweet little girl,” one neighbor told KHOU11, adding that the community had just gathered to celebrate her 11th birthday earlier this summer. “A little angel.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
