A 26-year-old Temple man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing his girlfriend and their 1-year-old daughter, who was still strapped into a car seat when authorities found her.
Christopher Paul Weiss faces two counts of capital murder. He is being held at the McLennan County Jail, with bail set at $1 million.
Valarie Martinez, 24, and Azariah, 1, were both shot "execution style" on Sunday at Tradinghouse Creek Reservoir, about 15 miles east of Waco, authorities told KCEN-TV.
Azariah was still strapped in her car seat when she was found shot to death, and Valarie was found outside of the car, the Tribune-Herald reported.
Investigators believe Weiss was in a relationship with Valarie at the time of the killings while also being married to another woman with whom he had two daughters, McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said.
"This was a horrible, heinous crime, and we are so relieved to have this cold-blooded individual in custody," McNamara said to the Waco Tribune-Herald. "This was truly a heartbreaking case."
Weiss was interviewed shortly after the slayings and was placed under surveillance at a home in Temple while detectives worked to obtain a search warrant, McNamara said. Weiss and his wife left the home in a truck and were pulled over before Weiss was arrested.
McNamara called the deaths “very disturbing” and “very heartbreaking.”
“Very seldom do you see a 1-year-old child that’s been gunned down,” McNamara said. “What kind of animal does something like that?”
