An Anaheim man with a history of domestic violence has been convicted of the first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend while he was out on bail for prior charges of assaulting her. Aaron Stevan Romo, 37, faced the verdict on May 29th for the slaying of 24-year-old Mirelle Mateus, who he beat and strangled to death at his apartment on St. Patrick's Day 2023, as reported by the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
According to details of the case, Romo called Mateus to pick him up after getting injured in a fight outside a bar, Mateus, despite having an active restraining order against him that wasn't set to expire until 2025 acceded to Romo's request, this would be the decision that led to her untimely death by the hands of the same man who couldn't stand the weight of her absence. After her mother's concern prompted a visit to Romo's apartment the next day, she was found dead; Romo later attempted suicide at his current girlfriend's home in Riverside before being taken into custody.
Romo is also convicted of one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud or deceit for an earlier attack on December 5, 2022, against Mateus, which involved him hitting her and throwing her over a patio fence, the DA's office confirmed. Romo now faces a possible life sentence with parole eligibility, with sentencing scheduled for June 24, 2024, in Santa Ana’s Central Justice Center.
"The cycle of domestic violence has tragically claimed the life of another victim who could not escape the deadly hands of her abuser," District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated, "A mother’s last memory of her daughter should not be finding her lifeless body on the floor where she spent the last moments of her life struggling to get away from the man who had repeatedly abused her. He is a master manipulator who repeatedly lured his victim back in only to ruthlessly beat and strangle her until she took her last breath,” sentiments that speak to a grim reality of broken systems and broken promises that seem to haunt the lives of those caught within violent love's twisted embrace. Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney of the Homicide Unit leads the prosecution of this harrowing case.
