(Cameron County Sheriff’s Department)
A Cameron County indictment has shed light on how a 15-year-old Harlingen girl was killed.
The body of Alexandra Castillo was discovered May 17, 2020 on Bob Youker Road in Harlingen.
Castillo’s body was found lying next to the road with multiple lacerations to her body, Harlingen police said.
The suspect in the case, Jesus Saldana Ramirez, 20, of Rio Hondo, was indicted on one count of murder, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of tampering with physical evidence, court records reflect.
According to a three-count indictment filed against Ramirez, he is alleged to have caused Castillo’s death by “stabbing AC, a pseudonym, with a knife.”
The indictment also alleges Ramirez sexually assaulted the teenager.
In addition, the indictment alleges that Ramirez “knowing that an investigation was pending, to-wit: a murder investigation, intentionally or knowingly alter OR destroy, clothing, to-wit: the defendant’s clothing, with intent to impair its availability as evidence in the investigation.”
A status hearing on Ramirez’s case is scheduled for Friday before 107th state District Court Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr.
The Harlingen Police Department in a 2020 press release said that after conducting interviews and collecting forensic evidence, its Major Crimes Division and Texas Rangers were ability to identify Ramirez as the suspect. Ramirez had fled to Mexico, but he later surrendered himself to authorities at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville.
Ramirez remains jailed at a Cameron County facility on a $2.1 million bond. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is scheduled for April 25, 2022.
