Cops: Teen Strangled Pregnant 'Embarrassment' of a Sister

Police say Eduardo Arevalo killed 23-year-old Viridiana Arevalo when she was 8 months pregnant
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2019 8:47 AM CST

The body of a missing pregnant Texas woman has been found, and cops say her younger brother has confessed to killing her. The Dallas Morning News reports 19-year-old Eduardo Arevalo has been charged with capital murder in the death of his 23-year-old sister, Viridiana Arevalo, who was eight months pregnant. Her body was found Sunday in an alley in The Colony, and cops say evidence there and other information led them to suspect Eduardo Arevalo. Per an arrest affidavit cited by the Morning News and NBC FW, Arevalo admitted to the crime, saying his sister was an "embarrassment" to their family, and that on Dec. 16, after they'd gotten into an argument, he went to his room and thought, "Maybe it's the time to murder her." He then told police he went into the living room, came up from behind where his sister was sitting on the couch, and strangled her with his arm, the affidavit says.

"I murdered her, I murdered her," cops say he told them, adding that he also admitted to driving her body to a field about 40 miles away and dumping it there, before going back to retrieve it a week later so he could leave it in the alleyway about a mile from their home, reportedly because he wanted his family to get closure in finding her body. Another brother tells CBS News he can't fathom his younger brother doing such a thing. "I know my brother," Diego Arevalo says. "He wouldn't do something like this." Cops also say Eduardo Arevalo staged his sister's death to look like a suicide. He's being held in The Colony Jail, with bail set at $1,050,000. The New York Post notes that, due to the capital murder charge—which was brought because Viridiana Arevalo was pregnant—Eduardo Arevalo could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty if convicted. Cops say other charges are possible. (More murder stories.)

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