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A 53-year-old Edinburg man waived his arraignment Wednesday and entered a not guilty plea to a charge of murder for allegations of beating his girlfriend to death in December.
A grand jury indicted Adan Roberto Ruiz Jr. on March 24 on the charge.
Edinburg police charged Ruiz with murder on Dec. 11 for the Dec. 7 death of 47-year-old Yvonne Salas at a residence in the 1400 block of North Closner Boulevard in Edinburg.
Police responded to that location at approximately 5 p.m. that day for a report of an unresponsive woman.
Ruiz had called 911 and claimed he found Salas when he arrived home.
Salas was cold to the touch when police found her and was lying on her back, arms spread, dressed in all black and without a pulse in the kitchen area, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Investigators noted in the affidavit that her eyes were cloudy and had red spots, indicating broken blood vessels.
While Ruiz claimed he just found Salas’ lifeless body, police determined he was the only one with a key to the residence and was the last person seen with Ruiz, according to the affidavit.
Police then detained Ruiz on a charge of public intoxication.
During questioning Ruiz accused his neighbor of giving Salas methamphetamine and told officers he was waiting for him to arrive home because he planned on harming the man, the affidavit read.
That neighbor, however, had an alibi for his whereabouts and investigators cleared him as a suspect.
Detectives noted in the affidavit that there was an abundance of blood in the residence and investigators believe Ruiz cleaned himself up before police arrived, according to the affidavit.
The initial autopsy indicates Salas died from blunt force trauma to the head and body.
That autopsy, however, will likely be challenged by defense attorneys.
The Monitor previously reported that Sandra Lyden, the former Nueces County deputy medical examiner, conducted the autopsy.
Lyden performed Salas’ autopsy while not holding a valid Texas medical license.
The former deputy medical examiner conducted 30 autopsies between Dec. 2, 2021, through January, with Salas’ body being the only one she performed an autopsy on from Hidalgo County.
Authorities have since arrested and charged Lyden with 14 counts of practicing medicine without a license causing financial harm, six counts of tampering with a government record with intent to defraud or harm and one count of misrepresentation regarding entitlement to practice medicine, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported.
As for Ruiz, he remains held in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a $750,000 bond.
