Two women have been arrested for allegedly tampering with evidence and helping the suspect of a double murder escape justice last month.
More details have emerged about the killing of two women, 55-year-old Juana Medina Rodriguez and her 23-year-old daughter Nayeli Bolaños Medina, inside their home in Irving on January 19. As previously covered by The Dallas Express, 33-year-old Hector Matute, who also goes by Hector Paguada, is currently being sought by police in connection with the murders.
According to police, Medina’s 5-year-old son told detectives that Paguada shot both victims in front of him during an argument over a car, Fox 4 KDFW reported. Paguada, who was reportedly dating Medina, had sold her a car, but something was amiss about the title, sparking conflict between them.
After the fatal shooting, Paguada allegedly contacted his sister, 30-year-old Yudi Mabel Paguada Ruiz, and 34-year-old Nicolle Martinez Tome, with whom he resides and has children. Allegedly aware of the murders, both women are believed to have helped Paguada hide and get rid of his Nissan Pathfinder SUV, which he had been seen driving in surveillance footage near the murder scene.
Tome allegedly contacted someone who told detectives she was paid $100 to move the SUV but was unaware of the murders until after she had done so, according to Fox 4.
Both Tome and Ruiz were booked on charges of tampering with evidence with intent to impair an investigation. While Tome was released from Irving City Jail on a $25,000 bond, Ruiz remains incarcerated in Dallas County on a $75,000 bond.
Paguada is still on the lam, and anyone with information that may lead to his arrest is urged to contact Irving police.
In nearby Dallas, the 15% bump in the murder rate seen between 2022 and 2023 may well be repeated in 2024, with 22 homicides already reported as of February 5, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. The overwhelming majority of murder victims have been recorded as black or Hispanic.
Meanwhile, Downtown Dallas has become a hotspot for crime, with the neighborhood logging consistently more crime reports — approximately seven times as many — than Fort Worth’s city center, which is patrolled by a specialized neighborhood police unit working with private security guards.
A longstanding officer deficit has hampered the Dallas Police Department’s struggle against crime. Despite a City report calling for a police force of 4,000 officers, just 3,000 are currently fielded in DPD operations. Meanwhile, City officials have budgeted DPD just $654 million this fiscal year, considerably less than the amount of taxpayer money spent on policing efforts in other high-crime municipalities, such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.