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The 46-year-old Edinburg woman involved in a 2018 double homicide who skipped out on her plea hearing in September has been arrested.
Irene Navejar, who reached a plea deal with prosecutors in order to testify against her former boyfriend, 45-year-old Gabriel Keith Escalante, for the death of 53-year-old Alejandro Salinas and his mother, 73-year-old Olivia Salinas, was booked into the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center Monday after failing to appear for the hearing in September.
It’s not immediately clear where she was found and arrested.
Escalante was convicted June 3, 2022, for the capital murder of Alejandro and Olivia Salinas which occurred in April 2018.
During his trial, Navejar testified that Alejandro and Escalante were smoking crack and drinking beer at the Salinas residence and managed to lure Alejandro back to their apartment where Escalante beat him to death.
They later placed his body in the back of Olivia’s GMC Sierra before they drove around aimlessly.
Afterward, they returned to the Salinas residence where they ransacked the home looking for money the Salinas’ won in a settlement.
Navejar stated that Escalante then beat Olivia, who used a wheelchair, tied her wrists, forced a bag over her head, then placed her inside a discarded Ford Explorer that was on the Salinas’ property and left her there to suffocate and die.
When she was asked why she didn’t call the police, Navejar stated she was scared of Escalante and explained that the inconsistencies with her stories between the time the murders occurred and the testimony was due to her drug use.
Navejar was scheduled to appear before state District Judge Luis Manuel Singleterry for a plea hearing on Sept. 11, but failed to appear which resulted in a warrant for her arrest.
