Family of murdered single mother speaks out
Water trickled through the burnt remains of what was a home for 30-year-old Elilia Valdez and her two children in Thermal.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, on Saturday Valdez was murdered after what witnesses say was a domestic dispute with her boyfriend, 22-year-old Christian Pacheco of Indio.
Her body was found about a mile from the home on a date palm farm. The Riverside County Coroners Office has not yet released an exact cause of death.
Deputies believe after Valdez was murdered, the home was torched. Valdez’s two children, a 12-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, were not home but family members say two cats died.
On Monday, Valdez’s family sifted through the rubble of what they say was a very happy home.
Maria Solario, Valdez’s cousin and best friend, says she was with Valdez just minutes before she was taken away to her death.
“He took her in a car that isn’t even his. We went to go look for it and he came back, and they went in the car to talk and he took off,” said Solario with tears in her eyes.
“He was just a heartless man who didn’t care. He left two children with nothing but memories, burned everything down and killed their mother, my sister,” said Adolfo Valdez, Elilia’s younger brother.
Family members say they had met Pacheco before, and he had an on-again-off-again relationship with Valdez.
“I never had a good feeling about him and I never liked him. You could tell he was not a good person,” Solario said.
Valdez’s children are being taken care of by family members who set up a crowd funding site to help support them in this time of need. Pacheco remains in custody and is facing murder charges. He is set to appear in court on Wednesday.
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