(USNewsMag.com) – Police in Washington state were searching for former school police officer Elias Huizar, 39, after he killed his ex-wife and his 17-year-old “girlfriend.”
On April 22nd, the same day he was due to appear in court on charges of child sexual assault, Huizar allegedly shot his ex-wife, Amber Rodriguez, killing her outside where she worked at William Wiley Elementary School.
According to a probable cause statement, the couple’s 9-year-old son told police that he witnessed his father “shoot his mother.”
While police searched for Huizar, they located the body of his “girlfriend” and victim, Angelica Santos, inside his home. However, Huizar and Santos’ 1-year-old son, Roman Santos, was missing.
According to the West Richland Police Department, Huizar shot himself in the head when Oregon State Troopers attempted to make contact with him following a high-speed police chase near Eugene on April 23rd. Troopers took his unharmed 1-year-old son into their custody.
Court filings from earlier this year show that Huizar and Santos met when he was working at Washington Middle School in Yakima as a school resource officer. Huizar was then arrested on Feb. 3rd when Santos called police after he allegedly sexually assaulted her 16-year-old friend. He was charged with furnishing alcohol to minors, second-degree rape, and third-degree rape related to his “relationship” with Santos. According to a protection order filed in 2020 by Rodriguez against Huizar, Santos was only 11 years old when Huizar first began grooming her and 15 when she fell pregnant with his child, Roman. Huizar was due in court on April 22nd on the two charges of child rape.
Just days before the murders, Rodriguez had also filed for a change in the custody arrangements for the couple’s two kids, ages 5 and 9, with a hearing set for May 14th.
Huizar served as a police officer from 2014 until 2021, when Huizar left the Yakima Police Department “after receiving discipline.”
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