Texas girl, 11, found raped and murdered under her bed ‘was killed by MIGRANT, 18, who crossed into El Paso in January and was promptly freed by authorities’

The main suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old girl found strangled to death under her bed in Texas is a Guatemalan immigrant who entered the US in January.

Maria Gonzalez was found by her father at their home in Pasadena, Texas, on Saturday, August 12. She had also been sexually assaulted, police said.

Pasadena Police Department on Friday named Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, as a ‘person of interest’ and the main suspect in the case.

He ‘was residing at the same apartment complex where the victim was found but has since left’, police said. Garcia-Rodriguez is now being hunted by cops.

Garcia-Rodriguez is believed to have entered the US in January. He crossed the border in El Paso, Texas. After he ‘self-surrendered’, it is believed the teenager, who was 17 when he crossed, was then let free.

Detectives have released a photograph of Garcia-Rodriguez with their appeal and also offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest or charges.

Sources in the Department of Homeland Security told NewsNation that it’s believed he may have fled to Mexico.

Garcia-Rodriguez had been released after entering the US because he had a sponsor in Louisiana. A sponsor typically agrees to provide housing or financial support to a migrant while they are processed and their status is determined.

Maria’s father had called police at around 3pm on Saturday and said he had found his daughter’s lifeless body under her bed.