Guadalupe Ronquillo-Ovalle

Overview

Guadalupe Ronquillo-Ovalle killed her husband, Israel Alvarez, and their three sons before killing herself in Rice, about 40 miles southeast of Dallas.

Timeline

• September 11, 2013 — Israel Alvarez was arrested for a misdemeanor family violence charge after being accused of shoving Ronquillo-Ovalle, taking away her cellphone and removing the battery; he pleaded no contest, paid a fine, and was released after spending two days in jail.
• September 16, 2013 — Ronquillo-Ovalle and Alvarez visited family friend Maria Franco’s home, asking for advice about keeping their relationship together and discussing “normal problems” they were having.
• Late Thursday or early Friday, September 2013 — Ronquillo-Ovalle shot and killed her husband and three sons in their home in Rice; she later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
• Sunday evening, September 2013 — A family member found the bodies inside the family’s home after several unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with them.
• September 24, 2013 — Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner announced that a mother had fatally shot her husband and three sons before killing herself; Tanner said investigators were still trying to determine why Ronquillo-Ovalle killed her family.
• October 17, 2013 — Authorities investigating the September murder-suicide were still trying to separate a possible motive from rumors; Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner said his office was waiting for results on DNA testing before making a final determination.

The offence

Ronquillo-Ovalle, 33, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her husband, Israel Alvarez, 33, and their three sons—ages 4, 8, and 10—were all shot in the upper torso. Ronquillo-Ovalle died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The preliminary autopsies revealed that Alvarez and all three children died of homicidal violence by gunshot wounds.

Investigators said there was no indication that Alvarez fired any shots. Authorities said the shootings happened sometime late Thursday or early Friday, and that the children did not attend school on Friday. A family member found the bodies inside the family’s home on Sunday evening after several unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with them. Investigators said Ronquillo-Ovalle did not leave behind a note and there was no clear motive for the shootings at that time.

Tanner said authorities had not released where the bodies were located inside the home and there was no indication that anyone was trying to escape the home at the time of the shootings.

Investigation

Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner said his office interviewed people in an effort to determine why Ronquillo-Ovalle might have shot her family. Tanner declined to say when authorities might close the case. He said investigators had some conversations with individuals that supported a possible motive but that there were no confirmations. Tanner also said there was a difference between something that could be substantiated and something that was “just a whisper in the wind,” and he said he would hold off on any response until the investigation was complete and investigators had something “that is rock solid that we can bring to light in reference to that, if ever.”

CBSDFW.COM reporting quoted Tanner about motive:

“Certainly we believe it is going to be difficult to find a motive in this case. We’re going to be conducting interviews with neighbors, friends of the victims to try to determine if there is any motive that we can uncover in this case,”

Tanner said deputies would continue to investigate the case as a murder-suicide.

Tanner said investigators could not determine much from Alvarez’s arrest “other than that was an isolated incident involving family violence.” Tanner said, “We can only assume that there were problems in the household that led to that case of family violence, and there may have been other incidents that were taking place.” He also said the investigation had been confined to inside of the home.

Authorities did not believe that there was a suspect on the loose, or that the community was in any danger.

Tanner said he could not recall, in law enforcement for approximately 25 years, an incident where a mother was the shooter of her own children. He said:

“This is a traumatic incident. Obviously, this is a situation where children are involved. A homicide by itself is traumatic. But when you involve children of the ages of 10, 8 and 4 — most of our officers, first responders, they all have children, and that is a bad situation for anybody to be asked to go in and investigate.”

Arrest and prior domestic violence incident involving Israel Alvarez

Israel Alvarez, 33, was arrested Sept. 11 for a misdemeanor family violence charge after being accused of shoving Ronquillo-Ovalle, taking away her cellphone and removing the battery. He pleaded no contest to the charge, paid a fine, and was released after spending two days in jail.

Reporting also stated that Alvarez was arrested for a class C assault charge, spent two days in jail, and was ordered to pay a fine. Another account stated that Ronquillo-Ovalle went to her children’s elementary school to call 911 because Alvarez took away her cellphone and removed the battery. She told a deputy she was on the phone talking to her sister when Alvarez entered the room and pushed her.

The records indicated no divorce filings or requests for a restraining order were filed, and Ronquillo-Ovalle did not ask for a protective order.

Tanner said:

“We can only assume that there were problems in the household,” and “We can only assume that there were problems in the household that led to that case of family violence, and there may have been other incidents that were taking place.”

Location and discovery of bodies

Tanner said the bodies of Ronquillo-Ovalle; Israel Alvarez, 33; and their sons, ages 4, 8 and 10, were discovered by Alvarez’s father, who had to use a ladder to get into the house through a second-floor balcony.

Investigators said the family member who found the bodies did so Sunday evening after unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with them.

People

• Guadalupe Ronquillo-Ovalle (33) — wife and mother; died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing her husband and three sons.
• Israel Alvarez (33) — husband; was arrested Sept. 11 for misdemeanor family violence (class C assault charge reported), paid a fine, and was released after two days in jail; later died from homicidal violence by gunshot wounds.
• Three sons (ages 4, 8, 10) — Ronquillo-Ovalle and Alvarez’s children; died from homicidal violence by gunshot wounds.
• Elmer Tanner — Navarro County Sheriff; led statements on investigation, motive, and the prior family violence incident.
• Maria Franco — family friend; said Ronquillo-Ovalle and Alvarez visited her home on Sept. 16 to discuss “normal problems” in their relationship.
• Josh Sugarmann — executive director of the Violence Policy Center; discussed how family murder-suicides usually occur after an event that prompts loss of control and stated women commit about 1 in 10 murder-suicides based on a study of news accounts.
• Bill Hedgpeth — police spokesman; commented on another case involving Angelica Vazquez and referenced withdrawal and refusal of suggestions to seek professional help.
• Gustavo Herrera — family friend of Angelica Vazquez; said he did not see signs that she would do something “so drastic.”

Other details

Maria Franco said Ronquillo-Ovalle and Alvarez visited her home a few days after Alvarez’s arrest to talk about “normal problems” they were having, and that she did not believe they were facing “anything dangerous.” Franco said:

“I didn’t hear anything dangerous,” and said about their discussions: “normal problems”

On Sept. 16, Franco said they came asking for advice about keeping their relationship together.

A quote attributed to Josh Sugarmann discussed possible triggers for family murder-suicides:

“an event that prompts the person to lose control,” such as financial issues or domestic violence.

The report also said that women are rarely the shooters in murder-suicides and that women commit only about 1 in 10 murder-suicides, according to the policy group’s study of news accounts.

The reporting included references to other cases in North Texas:

• In 2010, Coppell Mayor Jayne Peters killed her 19-year-old daughter and then herself; investigators found depression medication in the home and Peters faced financial difficulties.
• About six months before the Sept. 24, 2013 reporting, in Mesquite, Angelica Vazquez fatally shot her two adult children and her husband before killing herself. The report quoted Bill Hedgpeth saying:

“missed family functions that she typically would have attended and had refused family members’ suggestions to seek professional help,” and quoted Gustavo Herrera saying: “This is something you didn’t expect from the mom,” and: “was so drastic,”

Authorities said there was no indication that anyone was trying to escape the home at the time of the shootings.