Family friend in Texas arrested in death of Oklahoma City girl

Jasmen Gonzalez, 10, was reported missing shortly before midnight Saturday in Carrollton, Texas, which is about 23 miles north of Dallas. Her body was found Sunday afternoon.

Jose Sifuentes, 23, was arrested about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday and taken to the Dallas County jail, Carrollton police Lt. Doug Mitchell said Tuesday. Police found human blood and a knife in Sifuentes' sport utility vehicle on Monday. They also found yellow rubber gloves, half a gold-colored charm, strands of hair, red fiber and a white flannel sheet in Sifuentes' black Lincoln Navigator.

Carrollton police said Jasmen was stabbed to death Saturday on a bed in the master bedroom at a relative's apartment in Carrollton. Authorities said she was taken from the apartment some time after 11:15 p.m. Saturday. Jasmen's body was found in a stranger's backyard a few blocks from the apartment.

Sifuentes, who had been in custody on an immigration hold, is a relative of Jasmen's by marriage, Mitchell said.

Search warrant affidavits indicate Jasmen was shirtless and that her pants and underwear had been pulled down to her knees “in a manner consistent with sexual assault.”

A Dallas County medical examiner's office employee said Gonzalez died of a stab wound to the chest. Her death has been ruled a homicide. The spokeswoman would not confirm she had been sexually assaulted.

Sifuentes was among the adults in the apartment when Jasmen was last seen about 11:15 p.m. Saturday, according to search warrant affidavits. About 15 minutes later, relatives realized the girl was not in the bedroom where she had been sleeping.

“Once the occupants of the apartment realized that Jasmen was missing, they realized that Sifuentes was also missing for an approximate 15-minute period,” the affidavit stated.

The master bedroom has a door to the exterior of the apartment. Police initially considered that the girl might be a sleepwalker. Officers found Jasmen's glasses outside the apartment and soon began to suspect she had been abducted, the affidavit stated.

Her body was found facedown shortly after 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the 1100 block of Clint Street, less than a mile away.

While speaking with investigators, police said, Sifuentes gave several “basic statements of deception, including lying about his date of birth and having tattoos.”