Family of Tomball teacher killed in 1993 relieved by news of suspect's arrest

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The family and friends of a beloved Tomball teacher are feeling some peace after decades of anguish. Nearly 20 years after her murder, investigators say they have found and arrested the man who did it.

The suspect should arrive at the Harris County courthouse within a few weeks. The son of the victim says he never gave up hope for justice.

It was a day that rocked the community of 10,000. On August 10, 1993, a retired school teacher-turned-librarian was sexually assaulted and murdered in her own home, the back door broken. A Meals on Wheels volunteer discovered the gruesome scene.

Police believed Mildred Stallones was killed because she fought back.

"We made sure that we provided our due diligence to keep the case alive," Captain Rickey Doerre said.

It was personal for Doerre. He remembers the woman who ran the town library near the baseball field.

"We'd go in there and check out books from her. I just remember a very kind woman," he said.

Investigators say they knew who their man was pretty quickly. Alfredo Ramirez-Rosas, then 23 years old, lived just 50 yards from the victim.

"We knew that the suspect had fled back to Mexico," Doerre said.

But Ramirez-Rosas was the top man on Tomball's Most Wanted List until this week.

"He's had a life of freedom that Miss Stallones never, unfortunately, got to enjoy," Tomball PD Detective Ron McGullion said.

"To be able to provide some type of resolution for the family, I don't know that I can really explain how that feels," Doerre said.

Leighton Stallones can tell you. He's of the victim's three children.

"A very loved lady in town," Stallones said. "An emotional situation, relief I guess is certainly the right word to have this nightmare at least beginning to come to a close."

One of the things that helped expedite the case recently was the decision to not pursue the death penalty. The family and DA's office have agreed the maximum Rosas can get will be life in prison.
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