On September 3, 2026, 67-year-old Rosa Linda Ybarra was at her job as a leasing agent at the Park at Woodlake Apartments in west Houston, a role in which she was known for her vibrant and caring personality. Tragically, her life was cut short that day in a violent act that also claimed the life of her colleague, 47-year-old Felix Antonio Jimenez Macz. The two were discovered inside the apartment complex's management office on Ella Lee Lane by a maintenance worker and a resident who had come to pay rent. Both Ybarra and Jimenez Macz had been shot multiple times and were pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly led authorities to a suspect. Derrick Duane Jackson, a 48-year-old resident of the apartment complex, was arrested the following day and charged with capital murder. According to charging documents, the motive for the killings was an argument over the terms of Jackson's lease. It is alleged that during this dispute, Jackson fatally shot both Ybarra and Jimenez Macz, and also stabbed Jimenez Macz. Following his arrest, prosecutors requested a $1 million bond, but also filed a motion to have him held without bond.
Rosa Linda Ybarra was remembered by her family as the matriarch, a loving mother, grandmother, and caregiver who had spent her life helping others. Before her work as a leasing agent, she ran a daycare service and was known in her neighborhood as "Miss Rosie" for driving local children to school. At the time of her death, she was caring for her adult son with a disability and was in the process of adopting a young boy from foster care. Her family, while mourning their profound loss, has expressed a desire to see the suspect held accountable for his actions. The case against Derrick Duane Jackson is now proceeding through the criminal justice system, with his first court appearance scheduled for early September 2026.
