An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of a Texas girl last week. Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez is expected to be charged with capital murder in the death of 11-year-old Maria González, the Pasadena County Police Department announced on Saturday. Mr Garcia-Rodriguez was taken into custody by the Shreveport Police Department in Louisiana and will be extradited to Texas in the following days. He is accused of sexually assaulting Maria and strangling her to death before placing her body in a laundry basket under her bed. Maria’s father Carmelo González, who had received text messages from her daughter saying someone was knocking on the door, found the body when he returned home from work on 12 August. Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said during a press conference on Friday that detectives had talked to and taken DNA samples from Mr Garcia-Rodriguez on the day that Maria was found. He clarified that Mr Garcia-Rodriguez lived in the González’s apartment complex. Maria’s family issued a statement to KHOU 11 thanking detectives for their commitment to finding justice for the family. “We want to say thank you to the Pasadena Police Department and to Louisiana police and any officials that participated in bringing this cold-blooded murderer into custody. “This arrest has brought the family and community some peace. We are extremely thankful that he cannot cause this type of pain to anybody again.” The statement continued: “I ask for those who are in charge to give us justice. May he be burdened with the full weight of the law, for what he has done to my daughter.” Police said that Maria was in communication with her father on the morning of her murder. Mr González told her not to open the door amd asked a family member who lives near the complex to check on Maria, but he wasn’t able to find her. “I left her alone in the apartment and she was sending voice notes saying that someone was on the door. I told her not to open the door and that I was leaving work,” an emotional Mr Gonzalez told Univision in Spanish. Mr González eventually found Maria’s remains wrapped inside two plastic bags and stuffed inside a basket. The medical examiner determined that Maria was sexually assaulted and that her cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma. Maria had immigrated to the US with her father four years ago and they had moved into their apartment just three months ago. Pasadena police said that Mr Garcia-Rodriguez also immigrated from Guatemala and surrendered to border officers in El Paso, NewsNation. reported. Read More Texas girl sexually assaulted and strangled to death after texting father ‘someone was knocking on the door’ An 11-year-old warned about a mysterious stranger before her rape and murder. Now her father needs justice Relative of Idaho killings victim wears T-shirt with pro-firing squad message at suspect’s hearing

Reigning champions Italy were placed in the same group as Spain in Saturday's draw for Euro 2024, while France will come up against the Netherlands and England...

Shanna Gardner, the ex-wife accused of orchestrating the death of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan, appeared in a Washington court on Thursday to dispute her extradition to Florida. Ms Gardner appeared in Benton County Superior Court after Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed an extradition order, the Jacksonville State Attorney’s Office told News4Jax. The extradition hearing was an attempt by Ms Gardner’s attorneys to prevent her extradition to Duval County where she faces charges of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and child abuse. The ex-wife of Bridegan is accused of hatching a murder-for-hire plot with her second husband, Mario Fernandez, to kill Bridegan by hiring Henry Tenon to shoot him. Bridegan was dropping off his two children at Ms Gardner’s home in Jacksonville Beach when he was ambushed and fatally shot. One of his other children was in the car at the time. Ms Gardner, who resides in Washington state, was arrested on 17 August – more than a year after Bridegan was killed. The Independent has reached out to Jacksonville State Attorney for comment. Read More Ex-wife charged with murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan Microsoft exec Jared Bridegan was shot dead in a chilling ambush. Did his ex wife arrange it?

Eighteen people have been killed in two shootings in the north-east US, with the gunman still at large.

U.S. Senator Tim Scott is increasing his staff in Iowa and shifting resources to the early voting state

Negotiations between Donald Trump's lawyers and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' office over the details of his surrender are expected to continue into next week, a source with knowledge of the talks tells CNN.

Xi Jinping’s decision to stay away from this weekend’s Group of 20 summit may have been intended to

Thousands of people are gathering in Berlin and London to oppose antisemitism and support Israel

A federal judge on Friday sentenced a white supremacist to 90 consecutive life terms in prison for a

Whitney Port thanked her husband Tim Rosenman for being a 'great partner in crime' during the difficult times

President Joe Biden faces continued headwinds from broadly negative job ratings overall, widespread concerns about his age and decreased confidence among Democratic-aligned voters, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.

By Ammar Awad NEAR ELI SETTLEMENT, West Bank (Reuters) -Palestinian gunmen killed four people in a shooting attack near an