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Woman Who Allegedly Shot Husband In The Head While Kids Slept Arrested After Seven Years On The Run
Maria Montalvo was apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in May while attempting to cross into California, authorities said.
A Texas woman who has spent the last seven years on the run after allegedly killing her husband while their two sons slept was arrested at the U.S. border and charged in the April 2013 shooting.
Maria Montalvo, 48, was arrested on May 19 in San Diego while attempting to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, the Dallas County District Attorney's office said in a press release. Montalvo is accused of murdering her husband Simon Montalvo, 43, in April 2013 at their DeSoto, Texas home while the couple's two sons were asleep in their beds.
Simon was shot six times by his wife — including two shots to the back of the head, prosecutors alleged in the press release. His body was later found in the backyard covered in bricks and stones.
The couple's children were later found by authorities with relatives in Indianapolis, according an affidavit obtained by the Dallas Morning News.
One of the kids who was interviewed told a detective that he heard his parents arguing one night, and that after he went to sleep he was awoken by three “claps" — telling officials his mother explained it away as a cabinet falling over, according to local outlet WFAA.
The boy didn't see his father in the morning, and the children were told by Maria Montalvo they had to go visit relatives in Indiana that day, the affidavit stated.
In May 2013, Simon Montalvo's brother reported to police that he found Simon's body outside his home while visiting to install a camera. When authorities searched the home, they found three bullet holes in the master bedroom and evidence of “large amounts of blood," the affidavit said.
Maria Montalvo was indicted on the murder charge in absentia in June 2013, according to the Dallas Morning News. She has also been accused of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, according to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
“Our agency has never stopped looking for Montalvo and now that she is in jail where she belongs, we can pursue justice for the victim and his family,” DeSoto Police Chief Joe Costa said in the release.
It was not immediately clear if Maria Montalvo had a lawyer available for comment.
