Rolando Contreras, 26, a male of Hispanic / Latino ethnicity, was killed on March 14, 2021, after a violent early-morning encounter inside a home on Shenango Road in Big Beaver Borough near Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Firefighters and police were called to 1095 Shenango Road shortly after 6:00 a.m. for a reported structure fire. As crews worked through the burning residence, they found Contreras dead inside.
Authorities later determined that the fire was not the cause of his death; the Beaver County coroner found that Contreras had been shot multiple times, including wounds reported to the head, body, trunk, chest, and pelvis area. His death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators said the case began in the hours before the fire, between roughly 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., when a fight broke out involving people inside the home. Police described an argument or physical confrontation between Raul Manuel Rivera-Arroyo and Ana Cecilia De Mireles, with Eder Gomez Ernesto Ramos stepping in and being struck. According to accounts later attributed to law enforcement, Ramos called Contreras, who lived in Moon Township and had previously lived in Texas, and told him to bring a gun. Contreras came to the house, but while Ramos was away taking someone else home, the situation turned deadly. Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier later said Rivera was the person who shot and killed Contreras.
After the shooting, authorities said the suspects tried to cover up what had happened by setting the house on fire. Ramos allegedly told police that Rivera-Arroyo and De Mireles threatened him and told him that if he did not want to get hurt, he should take their identification and set the house on fire. Investigators believed Ramos did set the fire, and the case was treated as both a homicide and arson investigation. One firefighter was injured during the response.
Police quickly arrested Eder Gomez Ernesto Ramos, then 23, of Aliquippa, who was also reported to have ties to Mexico and Texas. He was jailed in Beaver County and charged with offenses including arson, aggravated arson, endangering persons, abuse of a corpse, criminal conspiracy, and tampering with physical evidence. Early reporting said Ramos was the first of three suspects taken into custody, while warrants were issued for the other two.
Authorities also named Ana Cecilia De Mireles, then 43, of Big Beaver, and Raul Manuel Rivera-Arroyo, then 32, of Big Beaver and previously of Louisiana, as wanted suspects. They were accused in connection with the fire and the handling of Contreras’s body and were initially charged with crimes including arson, endangering persons, aggravated arson, abuse of a corpse, criminal conspiracy, and tampering with physical evidence. Police said both fled the area, were believed to have connections to Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico, and were considered armed and dangerous. Investigators also searched for a Chevrolet pickup truck with Texas plates as part of the case.
The search continued for years. In 2023, law enforcement said De Mireles had been captured after crossing back into Texas from Mexico, where officials believed she and Rivera-Arroyo had fled after the killing. U.S. Marshals took her into custody, ending a roughly two-year search for her. Online reporting at that time described her as accused of homicide and arson-related crimes tied to Contreras’s death and said she was scheduled for a court appearance in June 2023. Sources available online also reported that Rivera-Arroyo remained central to the allegations, with the district attorney specifically saying Contreras was shot and killed by Rivera.
Online sources located for this synopsis show arrests and charges connected to Contreras’s homicide, including Ramos’s early arrest and De Mireles’s later capture, as well as allegations against Rivera-Arroyo. However, the available online reports reviewed did not provide a confirmed conviction, plea, trial outcome, sentence, or punishment for Ramos, De Mireles, or Rivera-Arroyo.
