Artemio Maldonado and Azucena Sanchez: Baby found amidst carnage of apartment where shooting left 4 dead and killers charged with capital murder
DALLAS, TEXAS: A shooting at a northwest Dallas apartment complex on Sunday night, March 12, where a baby was found unharmed, has left four people, two men, and two women, dead. In a connection with a deadly mass shooting, two suspects, Artemio Maldonado, 18, and Azucena Sanchez, 20, have been arrested and are now charged with capital murder, police updated the following day.
In a news release issued early on Monday, March 13, Dallas Police Department, said, "On March 12, 2023, at around 7.10 pm, Dallas Police responded to a shooting call in the 3500 block of Villaverde Avenue. The preliminary investigation determined when officers arrived they found two adult males and two adult females shot in an apartment. The victims died at the scene." The names of the deceased have not been released yet. While the child was given to Child Protective Services, reports Fox News. The release further read, "The investigation is ongoing and documented under case number 042506-2023."
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Who are Artemio Maldonado and Azucena Sanchez?
As per Fox News, Sanchez was the former girlfriend of one of the victims. As per the report, Sanchez and the victim were involved in a child custody dispute over their son. It is not clear whether or not the baby was the son who remained in the apartment following the shooting. Maldonado and Sanchez were caught at around 9.30 pm on the day of the mass shooting via their vehicle, which was spotted in the 2700 block of Northhaven Roadwere. They were taken to Dallas Police Headquarters and to the Dallas County Jail. Both of them were charged with capital murder.
Suspects broke into the apartment to rob
After the arrest, Sanchez described the details of what happened. She told police that she and Maldonado broke into the home to rob it. However, they were not aware if anyone was inside. Both suspects took out a box in a closet that they thought had money inside but upon opening it was empty. Authorities said Maldonado confessed that he shot the victims.
Police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said, as stated by ABC13, that the police officers were called to the scene after an individual checked on the occupants of the apartment but didn't get any response. Lowman said police later discovered that since 1 am popping sounds were heard. However, no one dialed 911.
The police spokeswoman further informed that there was a dispute between one of the suspects and one of the victims, reports Seattlepi. And added that there was no threat to the public or anyone in the apartment complex.