A Texas woman has been slammed with a capital murder charge and stuck behind bars with a hefty $750,000 bond, officials said. Irene Deleon Banda, a 57-year-old, is cooling her heels in the Bexar County Jail after being arrested in connection with the 2020 shooting death of her husband, Ramiro Martinez, in their Rosenberg home, southwest of Houston, according to the authorities.
The arrest warrant for Deleon Banda was issued out of Fort Bend County and police state that the victim, Martinez, was 48 years old when he was murdered at his residence; Rosenberg Assistant Chief of Police Jarret Nethery said in a statement obtained by KENS 5, "The investigation is ongoing, therefore limited information is available at this time."
While Banda was taken into custody somewhere in San Antonio on Thursday morning, details of her exact role in the murder remain under wraps; she reportedly surrendered without incident to Department of Public Safety personnel and Texas Rangers, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman mentioned, further adding to the list of scant evidence and details shared with the public.
Neighbors were acquainted with Banda's mugshot verifying she had lived in the Canyon View area by Loop 1604 and Redland Road, and though many claimed she moved away about seven months ago, they expressed their shock over the charges as most described her as a loner who rarely shared much about her past, the arrest has evidently shattered the calm of the otherwise quiet neighborhood.
This isn't the first arrest in connection to the murder case that has taken a couple of years to unravel; Jorge Castellanos, then 32, was cuffed just weeks after the incident on a home invasion robbery linked to the slaying, he was picked up at the U.S.-Mexico border and has been cooling his heels in Fort Bend County Jail since, without bond, with investigators vowing at the time that Castellanos "will be held accountable for this egregious act of violence." Further details about when Banda might be extradited to Fort Bend County for her trial stay out of the public's grasp due to investigator's confidentiality.
