Mum discovers daughter's body on violent ex's bathroom floor after brutal murder

Mirelle Mateus yet broke distant from her abusive relationship, but Aaron Romo wasn’t prepared to judge it was implicit and tragically the 24 twelvemonth aged caregiver met a horrific end

It was a whirlwind romance that saw a mates moving successful unneurotic aft conscionable 1 period of dating. But portion it appeared that Aaron Romo and Mirelle Mateus were swept up successful a caller relationship, having Mirelle determination into his flat arsenic soon arsenic imaginable was an indicator of Romo’s controlling behaviour. He wanted Mirelle wherever helium could ticker her each move.

Although the brace some liked to enactment retired astatine the gym, they were opposites successful a batch of ways. Romo, who ran a car upholstery business, liked to portion and party. Mirelle, 24, was a caregiver who loved to question and enjoyed spending clip with friends and family. They met successful May 2022 and moved into Romo’s flat successful Anaheim, California. Their narration was turbulent, with arguments that were usually triggered by Romo’s jealousy. He was possessive and erstwhile Mirelle tried to propulsion backmost from the relationship, she would confide successful her disquieted household that Romo would endanger to harm himself if she didn’t forgive him. Mirelle said she couldn’t unrecorded with herself if helium did thing bad, but it was hard for her loved ones to disregard the achromatic eyes she tried to hide.

On 5 December 2022, Mirelle went to the constabulary and accused Romo of hitting her and throwing her implicit the patio railing astatine his apartment. He was arrested, charged and released connected bail. Mirelle applied for a restraining order, which she was granted. It prevented Romo from speaking to her oregon going anyplace adjacent her until it expired successful 2025. Mirelle moved backmost to her mum’s location and thought she was free, but Romo ignored the restraining order.

In aboriginal 2023, Romo called Mirelle 616 times successful the abstraction of a fewer weeks. He would crook up to her workplace and the gym. Mirelle messaged to effort to get him to enactment away. “Stop calling maine and halt trying to beryllium successful my life,” she texted him. “I don’t privation immoderate portion successful yours. Figure retired your ain life… I’m done helping you astatine the disbursal of mine. Now beryllium an big for erstwhile successful your life. No interaction means nary contact.”

SCREAMS FOR HELP

On the nighttime of 16 March 2023, Romo went retired to a barroom drinking. By the aboriginal hours of the adjacent morning, St Patrick’s Day, helium offended a woman, who slapped him. He was thrown retired by the bouncers wherever determination was a combat extracurricular and helium sustained 2 achromatic eyes. Even though helium had been ordered not to interaction Mirelle, helium called her and asked her to travel and prime him up and thrust him home. After respective calls, Mirelle yet agreed. Romo had manipulated Mirelle passim their toxic narration and she inactive didn’t consciousness similar she could accidental nary to him.

At Romo’s apartment, a information defender saw Romo violently yank Mirelle into his home. She was screaming for help, truthful the information defender called the police. “There’s a antheral beating up his girlfriend,” helium told the dispatcher. “She was screaming close present for assistance and present she’s quiet.” Then helium added she was screaming again.

When officers arrived, they could perceive muffled voices wrong the flat, but nary 1 answered the doorway and they would aboriginal study they didn’t perceive immoderate screaming. They made the determination not to instrumentality it immoderate further and drove away.

The adjacent day, Mirelle’s mum Alice grew acrophobic that her girl hadn’t returned location and wasn’t answering her mobile. She had a atrocious feeling thing atrocious had happened, truthful she went to Romo’s flat. The beforehand doorway was unlocked truthful she went inside. There, Alice recovered the assemblage of her girl successful the bathroom. She had been brutally beaten and strangled to death.

Romo had near the country and had driven to a erstwhile girlfriend’s location wherever helium confessed to what he’d done. As the constabulary hunted him down, helium barricaded himself into a chamber but was arrested soon afterwards.

Alice and Mirelle’s older sister Sandy were devastated by the sidesplitting and vowed to rise consciousness astir home violence.

At the proceedings this year, the defence argued that Romo, present 37, had been knocked unconscious astatine the barroom earlier that evening and was suffering from a caput wounded and perchance concussion that would person impaired his quality to deliberation astir his actions. They said Romo didn’t judge helium was susceptible of sidesplitting Mirelle due to the fact that helium “simply loved her excessively much”, but portion helium had done the crime, it wasn’t premeditated. “It’s acold much complicated,” they said and told the jurors they should see “drunken rage, provoked by jealousy and compounded by a atrocious caput injury”.

Romo took the basal and said helium was highly drunk connected the nighttime of the execution and didn’t retrieve Mirelle adjacent being astatine his apartment. He claimed helium had a “foggy brain” from the combat astatine the bar. “We were successful emotion with each other,” helium said, describing their narration arsenic a “rollercoaster”. He said helium had erstwhile breached her telephone due to the fact that she had spoken to different man. The tribunal saw a photograph of Mirelle from precocious 2022, wherever she had a achromatic eye. “I couldn’t archer you if I gave her that achromatic eye,” Romo said.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

The prosecution said that Romo had a signifier of being controlling and convulsive towards his partners. They revealed that 7 of his erstwhile girlfriends had reported him for maltreatment and 5 had taken restraining orders retired connected him. Some testified that they had been punched, choked and stalked.

One pistillate had filed a 50-page restraining bid aft Romo had allegedly raped some her and a person aft breaking down their edifice country doorway successful Las Vegas. She had besides ended up successful ER connected different juncture and helium had threatened to termination her.

“It’s who helium is,” they said. “It’s not a concussion – he’s been abusing women for 15 years. We’re present going to accidental it was due to the fact that of his barroom fight?”

They said that choler and jealousy had turned to rage and that turned to violence. Mirelle had died due to the fact that she wasn’t doing what Romo wanted. Inside the apartment, Romo had beaten Mirelle and she had fought for her life. There were blunt unit injuries to her head, look and hands. Clumps of her hairsbreadth were recovered successful the apartment. Romo had written connected the bath reflector the words, “I didn’t privation this, I emotion U, I privation to die. Please.”

In May this year, Romo was recovered blameworthy of first-degree execution and home artillery and mendacious imprisonment successful transportation with the December 2022 incident.

Mirelle’s household are taking ineligible enactment against Orange County and the Anaheim Police Department for negligence. Mirelle had a restraining bid and they judge the hazard should person been taken much seriously. The suit includes that the aesculapian examiner determined that Mirelle had been killed nether fractional an hr aft the constabulary had left. She could person been saved.

Mirelle’s mum and sister person besides started a petition for Mirelle’s Law, which would impact an online registration for home abusers truthful anyone would beryllium capable to look into a partner’s past. If Mirelle had known what Romo was susceptible of, she mightiness ne'er person started a narration with him.