Donna police identified the suspect in the strangulation death of a woman whose body was found in a Donna parking lot after another woman called police to report the suspect had confessed to her.
That tip led police to the Tip O’Texas RV Resort in Pharr and to the arrest of 51-year-old Andrew Stephen Scavnicky, who is accused of murdering 43-year-old Monica Coronado Deleon.
Donna police found her body Aug. 27 after officers were dispatched to 1041 West Expressway 83 in regards to a woman laying on the ground, according to a probable cause affidavit.
An officer who arrived on scene noticed Deleon showed signs of rigor mortis. She was found laying on her back with her legs and arms spread out.
“The female victim was found to have bruising on her stomach and possible ligature marks on her neck,” the affidavit stated. “The female victim appeared to have her fingernails broken from her fingertips.”
Police also noticed that she had a strong odor of bleach on her body and investigators noticed there were leaves and twigs in her hair that weren’t consistent with the area.
Two days later, police received a call from the other woman, who was not identified in the affidavit. She said that a day after Deleon’s body was found, Scavnicky had “confessed to her in detail” that he killed Deleon.
She said Scavnicky claimed Deleon had attacked him at his residence at the Tip O’Texas RV Resort in Pharr, according to the document.
“The female caller reported that the defendant stated to her that he fought back to defend himself and kicked her away from him causing her to break her neck,” the affidavit stated.
Scavnicky allegedly told her that he panicked and stole a maintenance truck from the RV park, drove Deleon to Donna “and left her body in the first dark place he could find, which was a parking lot located off of Expressway 83.”
Police said in the affidavit that investigators obtained consent to view the RV park’s surveillance video, which showed Scavnicky, who the park manager identified, entering the truck about 4:20 a.m. Aug. 27.
Donna police Chief Gilbert Guerrero previously said investigators believe the murder happened sometime between midnight and 4 a.m.
The caller who helped crack the case went in-person to the police department and provided an official statement, “which contained detailed information that was alleged to have been confessed to her by the defendant, which was never released publicly or to anyone other than law enforcement personnel involved in the case.”
That information included that Deleon’s body had bleach on it. The woman told police that Scavnicky said he bleached his house, body and poured bleach on her “to discard his DNA.”
Additionally, twigs and leaves near Scavnicky’s house were consistent with those found in Deleon’s hair, according to police.
After his arrest and first appearance, police also said that Scavnicky confessed. They didn’t specify his relationship to her other than saying he was an acquaintance.
“He stated that he just killed her,” Guerrero previously said.
Sgt. Adrian Hooks described Scavnicky’s confession as foggy.
He remained held Wednesday at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a $750,000 bond.
