Suspect charged with capital murder in North Texas double homicide; victims identified
A man was arrested in the deaths of two people found inside a home Monday, the Lewisville Police Department said in a social media post.
The bodies of Lilia Fernandez Ortiz, 66, and Alejandro Arrellano-Fernandez, 43, were found by a relative in a house in the 800 block of Ramblewood Drive after she had not been able to contact them for several days, according to the release.
The suspect was arrested Wednesday and faces charges of capital murder. In a news release Friday, police identified the suspect as 37-year-old Samuel Atinafu Melkamu. He’s being held in the Denton County Jail with bond set at $500,000.
Police have not described a motive for the killings or said whether or how Melkamu knew the victims.
According to an autopsy by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, both victims died due to a gunshot wound to the head and their deaths were ruled homicides.
Lilia Fernandez Ortiz’s body was found in the kitchen, and Alejandro Arrellano-Fernandez was found dead in the garage, the medical examiner’s office said Thursday.
This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 7:50 PM.
