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The girlfriend of the 39-year-old Mercedes man who was sentenced to prison for shooting and killing his ex-wife’s 19-year-old daughter had her charges dismissed last week.
Brownsville resident Esmeralda Chapa, 38, was initially charged with murder alongside Guadalupe Garcia Ybarra Jr., once they were arrested on April 18, 2021, following the death of Ruth Esmeralda Olvera.
While Ybarra was sentenced to 30 years in prison, state District Judge Fernando Mancias signed a motion to dismiss the murder charge against Chapa on Oct. 10.
Prosecutors filed the motion to dismiss following Ybarra’s guilty plea.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Mercedes police found Olvera’s body inside a gray 2013 Chevrolet Cruze when conducting a welfare check and discovered that she had a gunshot wound to the left side of her torso.
Olvera’s mother, Ybarra’s ex-wife, told investigators that she believed Ybarra was responsible for her daughter’s death and described him as a very violent and aggressive person.
When investigators got a hold of Ybarra, he told them that he and his father met with Olvera at a park in Weslaco at 11 a.m. and claimed to have received a call from her about 30 minutes later stating that she was being followed by people in a black Chevrolet Silverado and a green older model vehicle.
Ybarra stated that their phones got disconnected and he didn’t hear from Olvera again.
He added that the text messages and phone calls between him and Olvera were no longer saved on his phone and that his car, a blue 2013 Hyundai Sonata, was in Brownsville at a friend’s apartment complex.
Chapa was that friend.
She told investigators that Ybarra had been with her on the day of Olvera’s murder, but investigators said they found inconsistencies between their stories.
Despite what Ybarra said, police managed to find text messages from Ybarra to Olvera sent in a “harassing manner,” such as Ybarra asking for Olvera’s whereabouts and if she had been sleeping with other men.
Investigators believe that Ybarra had been romantically involved at one point with Olvera.
He had also contacted Olvera’s mother regarding calls he had received from unknown numbers threatening to her and Olvera.
Olvera’s mother told Ybarra to record the calls, so he did and he sent her one of the recordings.
Investigators identified the voice of the woman making those threats as Chapa.
A search of Chapa’s phone showed that Ybarra had contacted Chapa on the day that the voice message was shared with Olvera’s mother.
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