Murdered woman’s daughters speak of her death after man charged with murder

LA MARK, Texas. The family is forced to pick up the pieces after a woman was found dead in a newly built home in La Marche last week.

Carlos Lara-Balcasar, 34, has been charged with murder in connection with her death, but Maria Rios’ family has no idea why anyone would want to harm her.

Her daughters said they wanted their mother to be remembered for the person she was, not the person who caused their family so much pain.

“She was our support system. She meant a lot to us,” Rios’ daughter Cynthia Espindola said.

Kind, generous, and hardworking are just a few of the words Rios’ daughters use to describe their mother.

Together, for the first time since Ríos’ death, they used the words “angry”, “confused”, and “shocked” to describe their feelings.

“She was so hardworking and that’s all she did. She just went to work,” said her daughter Denise Zuniga.

Rios, 57, was found dead in a house at a construction site in La Marche on Tuesday, authorities said. Rios owned a company that was contracted to clean the house after it was completed. Lara-Balcasar was arrested after investigators found evidence that had been thrown into a trash can about seven minutes from his home.

“I think that he will be locked up for the rest of his life – he will have to think about what he did – will be a closure for me,” Zuniga said.

The daughters said they had no idea who Lara-Balkazar was or why he wanted to harm their mother, who they said always saw the good in others.

“We’ll have a funeral for her in the next couple of weeks and then move on, to be honest, it’s unknown,” Zuniga said.

Lara-Balcasar was held on $250,000 bail.

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