A Texas family is grieving — and demanding answers — after authorities discovered a woman’s body inside a barrel abandoned near a major Houston-area roadway.
Houston police found the body of Christelrose Angel Ramirez, 41, in the Greenspoint area on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 10, according to Fox 26 Houston. Ramirez’s relatives told the outlet they believe she was a victim of domestic violence.
Family members said investigators told them Ramirez was shot while she slept, then placed in trash bags, put into a barrel, and left near Interstate 45, according to Fox 26 Houston. Court proceedings cited by KPRC 2 and Fox 26 Houston indicate investigators suspect her boyfriend, Jesus Varela, in connection with her death.
Varela, 48, is charged with murder and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Dec. 15, according to Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) jail records. He also faces additional charges listed in online records, including tampering with evidence — human corpse, assault of a family member, and unlawful restraint.
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Bond amounts are listed as $200,000 for the tampering-with-evidence charge, $40,000 for the assault charge involving a family member, and $5,000 for the unlawful restraint charge. The records did not show a bond amount for the murder charge.
Ramirez’s father, Ricardo Ramirez, told Fox 26 Houston he became alarmed when his daughter stopped posting on Facebook. Her family said they had not heard from her for 11 days. Fox 26 Houston reported her death is believed to have occurred on Dec. 1, citing court documents.
According to the outlet, court documents state that Varela was arrested by Houston police on Dec. 6 after authorities learned a family member allegedly said Varela assaulted him and threatened to kill him if he did not help hide the body.
“She didn’t deserve to die the way she did because she was a beautiful young lady,” Ricardo Ramirez said, per Fox 26 Houston, adding that his daughter “had her life in front of her.” He told the outlet he believed his daughter and Varela had been in an on-and-off relationship since 2019, and said he felt something terrible was coming.
“Why? Why did you have to do this? Just let her go,” Ricardo Ramirez said, per Fox 26 Houston.
He also told KPRC 2 that his grief has been overwhelming: “Right now, I feel anger, I feel depressed… I just cry every day. I cry in the morning, I cry at night.”
Ramirez’s aunt, Maggie Ramirez, told the outlet, “She didn’t deserve this. She helped the whole world. She helped strangers.”
A GoFundMe page created by a family member describes the family’s devastation and says Ramirez’s father and sister were tasked with identifying her. The page says the family is seeking support for funeral costs so she can be buried next to her mother, and alleges Ramirez “lost her life in a tragic act of domestic violence.”
The Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond when contacted for additional information, the report said.
