Karla Jackelin Morales, 24, of Houston, Texas, United States was born in California, USA. She has family in Central America, including Honduras and El Salvador.
On July 29, 2018, Morales lured Jose Alfonso Villanueva, 24, to a grassy field near Lewis Elementary School in Spring, Texas to smoke marijuana to celebrate his birthday. He had been hiding from MS-13 embers, who were searching for him for allegedly disparaging the gang in a rap-music battle.
Once Villanueva arrived, he was hacked by five MS-13 members with machetes. As the victim tried to crawl away, he was shot repeatedly with a handgun by the gang members, which include Francisco Flores-Salazar, now 23, an El Salvador native living in Houston.
On August 7, 2023, Villanueva’s body was found. It was in an advanced stage of decomposition.
In September 2018, Morales was arrested. She was released on $60,000 bond after it was reduced from $100,000 and she was set for trial on October 25, 2021.
On October 20, 2021, Morales allegedly cut off her ankle monitor and disappeared so she was charged with bond jumping. In July 2022, she was found hiding in Houston and was arrested.
On August 11, 2023, Morales pleaded guilty to murder. Harris County District Court Judge Nikita V. Harmon ordered her to serve a sentence of 30 years in a state correctional facility.
CONAN Daily 