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Police arrested and charged Arturo Flores, 22, with the murder of 16-year-old Venus Rodriguez on Friday night.
Flores is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Rodriguez’s family put forward The teenager ran away from home in September 2022, two days before her 16th birthday, and told detectives she was suspected of having been with Flores.
On the morning of January 16, Rodriguez’s body was found in a nearby creek with multiple gunshot wounds at the 1700 block of Brookhaven Drive.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the WFAA, Flores lived just 100 meters away from where Rodriguez’s body was dumped.
Neighbors told police that the relationship between Rodriguez and Flores was physically abusive, with Flores chasing Rodriguez through a residential neighborhood weeks before he was killed.
When interviewed about Rodriguez’s murder, Flores “showed no emotion and seemed apathetic,” the WFAA said.
Police charged Flores with the murder of Rodriguez.
Police found a photo of the blanket in a social media post made by Rodriguez, and the family told police that Rodriguez and Flores used the blanket while taking care of their pet dog.
Additional reports from the WFAA describe the gruesome details uncovered at the crime scene. Please read below.
While he was being questioned by police, the family was seen leaving Flores’ home and was stopped by Dallas police. The family told police they had two guns in the car, both of which belonged to them. Dallas police said they found two guns, but it’s unclear if one of them was the murder weapon.
After obtaining a search warrant for Flores’ home, Dallas police found a “brand-new air mattress” in his room. After using forensic tools, the affidavit said police found evidence of blood on the carpet under the bed that had been cleared.