A father and son have been tied to the death of a 28-year-old Mission woman this week in an investigation that ended with the son, who was the woman’s boyfriend, taking his own life and his dad being charged with the victim’s murder.
Edinburg police said in a probable cause affidavit that the mother of Maritza Idette Zamora called police about a welfare concern for her daughter on Wednesday after not hearing from her since Sunday.
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The mother said Maritza’s boyfriend, identified as Robert Pena, walked into her Donna residence and dropped off Robert and Martiza’s infant daughter in a baby carrier, according to the affidavit.
“She spoke to Robert by phone who said Martiza had thrown him out and he did not know where she was,” police wrote in the document.
Police previously said Zamora was found unresponsive after 1 p.m. Wednesday in an apartment located in the 3700 block of Sarah Evans Street in Edinburg, and that an autopsy revealed she died from blunt force trauma.
In the affidavit, police said Zamora was found lying on the floor of one of the bedrooms and that her face was “blotchy and purplish,” and that she had abrasions on her neck and left side of her chin.
Authorities learned of Robert’s whereabouts after identifying the vehicle he was driving, a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox, and that it was registered in his father’s name, 61-year-old Rogelio Ramirez Cortez.
Surveillance video around the apartment also showed Maritza walking into the residence together with Rogelio and Robert.
“It was determined that it was that last time that Maritza was seen alive,” the affidavit stated.
An investigator located the Equinox at 1217 W. Garfield Ave. in Alton around noon Thursday. Authorities then saw Robert and Rogelio exiting a nearby apartment at 1224 W. Harrison Ave.
While Rogelio was being detained Robert “rushed back inside the apartment where he barricaded himself,” according to the affidavit.
Edinburg spokesperson Ashly Custer said Friday that Robert was then found dead in the apartment from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Rogelio, who police say implicated himself and that the murder was “committed by Robert,” was charged Friday with first degree murder in Zamora’s death, and is being held on a $1 million bond.
