A grand jury in Webb County, Texas, has indicted a man nearly a decade after he allegedly attempted to sexually assault and killed a mother of nine children as she was walking home from work. Using advanced forensic methods, investigators from the Texas Rangers and the Laredo Police Department identified 42-year-old Sergio Mendez as the suspect in the 2016 killing of 33-year-old Janette Escamilla Jaramillo of Laredo, Texas.
According to a press release from the Texas Rangers, on May 18, 2016, Jaramillo left work to head home around midnight but never arrived. Her body was discovered under a skate ramp at Seven Flags Park shortly after daybreak by employees of the Laredo Parks and Recreation Department. The park is located just blocks from where Jaramillo lived.
Investigators determined that Jaramillo had been brutally strangled following an attempted sexual assault. Surveillance footage reviewed during the investigation showed her walking with an unidentified individual approximately 30 minutes after she left her workplace. Police described the suspect as tall, with short, cropped hair, and wearing a trash bag, likely due to the rain that night. At the time, however, there was insufficient evidence to make an arrest.
In 2021, the case was identified as eligible for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program, enabling investigators to secure funding from the Department of Justice (DOJ). This initiative supports agencies across the U.S. in investigating unsolved sexual assaults and sexually related homicides. Utilizing these funds, advanced DNA testing was conducted, ultimately linking Mendez to the crime.
Earlier this month, on March 12, a grand jury indicted Mendez. He is currently in custody, serving a 10-year prison sentence in Edinburg, Texas, for an unrelated crime.
Greg Wehner, a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital, contributed to this report. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.
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