A man who pleaded guilty last month to a 2020 Fort Worth killing has been accused in a second slaying that occurred while he was out on bond, according to court documents.
Jesus Rios, 48, pleaded guilty to murder Sept. 18 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the shooting death of 34-year-old Fernando Mendoza in February 2020.
Mendoza was walking with his girlfriend in the 2400 block of Roosevelt Avenue when Rios drove up next to them and shot him.
After his initial arrest in the shooting, Rios was released on bond and fled to Mexico. He was rearrested in October 2023 when he crossed the border from Mexico to Texas in El Paso and tried to use someone else’s Texas ID, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said at the time.
Mayra Guerra, Rios’ girlfriend, was in the passenger seat of Rios’ vehicle when the deadly shooting occurred, according to court documents, and she was with Rios when he went to Mexico in 2023.
Guerra’s sister wrote a letter to a Tarrant County judge in November 2023, accusing Rios of killing Guerra and leaving her body in an open field the same day he tried crossing back into the United States. She wrote that she was told her sister was killed because she was the only witness to the Fort Worth slaying.
The letter, which was stamped as being filed with the court on Jan. 9, asked the court to take Guerra’s death into consideration in Rios’ punishment.
Fort Worth police collected evidence that showed Rios caused Guerra’s death to prevent her from testifying, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
