Who is Jennifer Puente? Texas woman arrested for killing and burning body of girl, 15, over 10 years ago
ELLIS COUNTY, TEXAS: Murder suspect and fugitive from Texas, Jennifer Samantha Puente, has been arrested after more than a decade for the death of Moriah Gonzales whose body was found burning in a field in Texas. The 15-year-old girl's body was discarded in Ennis and was allegedly stabbed to death by her then-18-year-old friend, as per the police statement at the time.
For 11 years, investigators were not able to locate the suspect Puente and she remained hidden until she was found in Mexico in October 2022. The Ellis County District Attorney's Office and the Ennis Police Department and the Ellis County District Attorney’s Office made an announcement this week on the arrest of the suspect. The 29-year-old accused is booked into the Ellis County Jail and in connection with the death of Gonzales, she has been charged with one count of tampering or fabricating physical evidence and one count of first-degree murder, as per the court documents, reported Law & Crime.
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Who is Jennifer Samantha Puente?
Jennifer Samantha Puente was the friend of her victim, Gonzales, whose body was discarded after the murder. On March 17, 2012, the remains of the victim were found by a witness in the field where her body was burning. On March 22, a warrant to arrest was obtained by the investigators with Ennis Police Department to take Puente and her boyfriend, Joe Alvarado into custody, according to the news outlet.
Soon after the warrants were issued, Alvarado was arrested. However, investigators were not able to find Puente and determined that she escaped from the state. Alvarado then pled guilty to murder and charges of evidence tampering. In 2014, a judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison for the tampering charge and 34 years for the murder charge. Both sentences were set to run consecutively, as per court records.
How was Jennifer Samantha Puente arrested?
In cooperation with the Texas Rangers, the authorities of Ellis County found evidence that the murder suspect had fled to Mexico. Following their finding in 2016, the US Department of Justice officials and the agencies worked together to obtain an arrest warrant and Puente's extradition.
In October 2022, after six years of finding evidence of Puente being somewhere in Mexico, she was finally located and arrested by Mexican authorities. Subsequently, the suspect waived her extradition back to the U.S. Officials with the Ellis County and District Attorney's Office, Ennis Police Department, and Texas Rangers then traveled to Mexico. Last week, Puente was then returned to Ennis County.
In an official statement, Ellis County District Attorney Ann Montgomery stated, “For almost 11 years, many public officials worked tirelessly to find and arrest Puente so that my office could seek justice for Moriah Gonzales." Thanking officials for the investigation and arrest of Puente after more than a decade, Montgomery wrote, "I want to specifically thank Texas Ranger Captain Jason Bobo, attorneys from the United States Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs, law enforcement officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, law enforcement officers from the Ennis Police Department, and former and current Assistant Ellis County and District Attorneys and Investigators. Their combined efforts led to the extradition and arrest of this fugitive.”
Were Puente and Alvarado on drugs during murder?
Alvaroda, who is now 40 years old, testified that when Gonzalez was fatally stabbed by Puente, he and the alleged killer were both on drugs. The duo then shifted her body to a field in Ennis and her body was left burned and discarded.
He will be testifying against Puente as part of his plea agreement. The long-time fugitive will be facing a maximum of life in jail, if convicted, on the charges of the murder of Gonzalez along with a maximum of 20 years in prison for the evidence tampering charge.