In the early hours of March 5, 2026, a tragic series of events unfolded in Odessa, Texas, culminating in the death of 38-year-old Maria Ramirez. What began as a drive with her boyfriend and another couple took a fatal turn, leaving a community in shock and a family to grapple with a sudden and violent loss. The details of her death would later be pieced together through a confession that started with a routine traffic stop.
Days after Maria's death, on a Friday morning, Ector County
Sheriff's deputies pulled over a Chevrolet Tahoe on West Second Street. The driver, Usbaldo Hernandez Carrasco, was initially arrested for driving with an invalid license. However, a subsequent inventory of the vehicle revealed a grim discovery: dried blood and a bullet hole in the front passenger seat. This finding immediately escalated the situation, turning a simple traffic violation into a homicide investigation.
During questioning, Carrasco waived his Miranda rights and confessed to shooting Maria Ramirez. He recounted that he had been in the Tahoe with his girlfriend, Maria, another man named Eduardo Modesto Olivas, and Olivas's girlfriend in the early morning of March 5th. From the back seat, Carrasco admitted to shooting Maria, who was in the front passenger seat. He stated that the first shot was not fatal, so he reached around and shot her a second time in the head. Following the shooting, Olivas and his girlfriend reportedly fled the scene near 16th Street and Damascus.
After the killing, Carrasco drove Maria's body to Mitchell County, where he left her under a small bridge on County Road 280 before returning to Odessa. He later led investigators to the 2800 block of Falomir Avenue, where he had discarded the firearm, a Glock, in a field. Authorities in Mitchell County were able to recover Maria's body, which was found wearing the black shorts and white shoes Carrasco had described.
Usbaldo Hernandez Carrasco, 34, was arrested and charged with murder and tampering with evidence. His bail was set at $1,026,000. Eduardo Modesto Olivas was also arrested on an outstanding warrant for theft of petroleum products, with his bond set at $25,000. While Olivas and his girlfriend did not report the murder, they were said to have cooperated with detectives, and their account of the events corroborated Carrasco's confession. An obituary for Maria "Luly" Ramirez, 38, of Odessa, who passed away on March 6, 2026, indicates funeral services were arranged for the following week.
