Fort Worth man described slaying in a text message, prosecutors say

A man accused of a brutal execution-style slaying told his sister via text message that he had killed a woman who stole drugs and money from his former wife, Tarrant County prosecutors said Tuesday.

“That’s why the b---- who set me up is under a tree with four in the chest and one in the head,” a text message shown to jurors said.

Defendant Joshua Gonzalez is accused of forcing a bound and beaten Ryan Major Rice, 29, to walk to a secluded area near the baseball fields of Rockwood Park on Dec. 5, 2013.

Gonzalez, 35, then shot Rice three times in the chest, once in the groin and finally put one slug into the back of her head, prosecutor John Hudson said in his opening statement to jurors in Gonzalez’s capital murder trial.

Gonzalez’s co-defendant, Jennifer Cooley, 35, had beaten Rice earlier for hours, Hudson said.

Gonzalez’s sister testified Tuesday, asking not to be named because she fears retaliation. She said she thought her brother was exaggerating when he sent her text messages about killing a woman.

“I thought he was just grandstanding,” she said.

After hearing that Rice had been found dead, the sister said, she called police.

Rice’s body was found Dec. 15, 2013, partially hidden in shrubbery near the 700 block of Rock Crest Drive.

The jury saw video of Fort Worth police Detective William Paine interviewing Gonzalez.

“You sent the text messages on Dec. 6 and she wasn’t found until nine days later,” Paine told Gonzalez. “You are giving intimate details about where and how she was found that no one else could know.”

If convicted, Gonzalez faces an automatic sentence of life with no possibility of parole. Prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty.

His co-defendants are his ex-wife, Cooley and Shawna Cooper, 36. They will be tried separately.

An arrest warrant affidavit says Gonzalez and Cooley attacked Rice after finding out that she stole prescription drugs and money from Cooley.

Rice had concealed the drugs in her body, and Gonzalez forcibly removed them. He told a witness that when Rice threatened to tell police that he had sexually assaulted her, he knew “he had to take care of her,” an arrest warrant affidavit said.

Gonzalez also “estimated around $30 to $50 had fallen out of her clothing,” Paine said.

Prosecutor Hudson said cobblestone ice covered much of Tarrant County the night after the body was dumped.

On Dec. 15, more than week later, Thomas Roney was walking his German shepherd when the dog started behaving strangely. Then he saw the body, Roney said.

“She was wearing a sports halter top, bare arms,” he said.

They did not move any closer.

“I went back to my car and drove to the nearest firehouse and reported it there,” Roney said. “Then I went home and called 911 and reported it there, too.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 9:12 PM with the headline "Fort Worth man described slaying in a text message, prosecutors say."