Monica Victoria Leija, a 36-year-old Hispanic woman, was tragically found dead in her home in southeast Houston on February 9, 2010. She had been shot once and was discovered in the master bedroom of her residence. The discovery was made after her family members reported her missing to the Houston Police Department, as she had not been seen since February 4 and had failed to show up for work on February 5.
The investigation revealed that Monica Victoria Leija was last seen when she went to work on February 4. Her family became concerned when they were unable to contact her over the phone and when she did not show up for work the following day. Officers and Houston Fire Department personnel went to her residence on February 9 and found her deceased in the master bedroom.
The primary suspect in the case was identified as Juan J. Castillo, a 29-year-old Hispanic man, who was Monica Victoria Leija's common-law husband. Castillo was charged with murder in the 177th State District Court. Investigators gathered evidence and witness statements that pointed to Castillo as the suspect. It was believed that Castillo fled the scene in a green four-door 1997 Infiniti I-30 with Texas license plates BC9R855, which was registered to Leija. The authorities launched a search for Castillo, urging anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact the Houston Police Department's Homicide Division or Crime Stoppers.
The case took a significant turn when Juan J. Castillo was arrested in El Salvador in April 2014, years after he had fled to the Central American nation following the murder of Monica Victoria Leija. The arrest marked the first time El Salvador had cooperated with the arrest of a Harris County fugitive. The Harris County District Attorney's Office worked to extradite Castillo back to the United States to face the murder charge. The extradition process involved the El Salvadorian government receiving copies of evidence and statements in the case to determine whether they would order Castillo's extradition.
The arrest brought a sense of hope and relief to Monica Victoria Leija's family, who had waited a long time for Castillo to be brought to justice. Leija's sister, Adriana Hernandez, expressed her family's happiness and peace of mind upon hearing the news of Castillo's capture. The details of the shooting were grim, as officials revealed that the couple had argued in their kitchen before the slaying. They sent their two small children upstairs to sleep, and later, Monica Victoria Leija joined the children in the bedroom. The couple's 5-year-old daughter witnessed Castillo come into the room, lean down, whisper something into her mother's ear, and then shoot her.
