A 30-year-old man, already in the Henderson County Jail for evading arrest, has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a Malakoff resident Friday.
Mariano Rivera Ramirez was booked shortly after midnight Saturday on the evading charge, and placed on a federal detainer by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The murder charge was added Tuesday, with bond set at $1,000,000 by Precinct 1 Justice of Peace Henry Ashford.
Investigator Bryan Tower said a murder warrant has also been issued for 29-year-old Cecilio Padron Perez, who has been at-large since the night 52-year-old Elizalde Jose-Morales was killed. A third person, as yet unidentified is also sought.
Morales was last seen alive at a holiday party at the Laredo Ballroom on Royall Boulevard in Malakoff. The body was discovered Friday by a work crew off Farm-to-Market 59 near the Anderson County line. A suspected murder weapon was found near the body.
Tower said the three suspects lured Morales into a pickup, and drove him to the spot near Cross Roads where the body was discovered. The investigator said the killing was a premeditated act.
Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Tommy Barnett ordered the body sent to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for an autopsy. A preliminary report said the victim had suffered 26 stab and blunt-force trauma wounds.
Ramirez was arrested later that night on West Mitchum Street in Malakoff as authorities spoke to residents concerning the death.
“We were following up on people we could identify that were at the party,” Tower said. “We went up to talk to this guy who had been seen near our victim. He ran from us. We noticed that he had some lacerations on his hands, and that made us look at him even more.”
Tower said HCSO is also looking for the truck Perez was seen driving late last week.
“It was a yellow Ford, single cab, 1998 to 2001 model, with Florida tags,” Tower said.
Authorities do not know the number on the tags, and are still hoping to hear from anyone who might have information useful in solving the case.
The sheriff’s department can be contacted at (903) 675-5128.
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Man, 30, charged in stabbing death
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