Laredo police have charged Abel Garza, 30, an off-duty Border Patrol agent, with murder in the fatal stabbing of his wife, Mayra Alejandra Landeros, 28, according to the Laredo Police Department. Police said officers responded to reports of a domestic disturbance at about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday in the 5500 block of Texana Street. Garza is also charged with four counts related to abandoning or endangering children. Jail records show he is held on bonds totaling $1.5 million.
Police said a Raven drone pilot saw a vehicle leaving the area and alerted officers, who stopped it. Landeros was found alive inside with multiple stab wounds and was taken to a hospital, where she later died. Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez said the circumstances were unclear but that the case is being investigated as domestic violence. Officers found the children inside the home unharmed.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official confirmed Garza is an off-duty Laredo Sector Border Patrol agent. The agency's Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing the incident. Police say Garza was arrested in January on an aggravated assault charge and in February on other charges. Police said Landeros's death is the city's sixth homicide of the year.