Marisela Mendoza

Marisela Mendoza, a 23-year-old woman, was a devoted mother who, according to her obituary, “lived life to the fullest, wanting to experience and enjoy everything possible.” Her life was cut short on the evening of April 30, 2022, in Amarillo, Texas. She had traveled from out of town to meet her boyfriend, 30-year-old Mario Alberto Rodriquez of Oklahoma, in the parking lot of a Texas Roadhouse on Interstate 40 West.

Around 8:30 p.m., the couple got into an argument. Surveillance video captured Rodriquez arguing with Mendoza while she sat in the passenger seat of a Toyota Avalon. The footage showed him hitting her before he pulled out a gun and fired into the car. When police arrived, they found Mendoza on the ground outside the passenger side of the vehicle. She had been shot multiple times in her right side and back. Paramedics rushed her to a local hospital, but she died from her injuries.

Rodriquez fled the scene in a gray Dodge Charger, prompting authorities to issue an AMBER Alert for two young girls, ages five and eight, who were believed to have been abducted by him. The alert was canceled around 3:30 a.m. after Rodriquez was located and arrested in the nearby town of Hereford, Texas. The two children were found safe and were placed with relatives.

Rodriquez was charged with murder and booked into jail. A Potter County grand jury indicted him in July 2022. While awaiting trial, he was briefly transferred to Oklahoma in February to face charges of child neglect and domestic abuse, but those charges were ultimately dismissed without cost, and he was returned to Potter County by May.

On October 6, 2025, Rodriquez, then 33, appeared in the 320th District Court before Judge Steve Denny. He pleaded guilty to the murder of Marisela Mendoza. In exchange for his plea, Rodriquez was sentenced to 60 years in prison. The case was officially closed as of his sentencing in October 2025.