San Antonio Man Jailed in Teen's Strangling Charged With Murder of a Second Woman
Already held on a capital murder charge in the death of 15-year-old Natalie Chavez, Johnny Joe Avalos was charged in the death of Celia Lopez, 29.
Published
Natalie Chavez was 15. Her body was found on December 18, 2014, under a bridge on San Antonio's west side, near Vera Cruz and Nueva Leon Streets. She was naked, and she had been strangled. Four months later, DNA found on her body led police to Johnny Joe Avalos.
He was arrested on April 21, 2015, on a charge of sexual assault of a child, and went on to face a capital murder charge in her death. According to the arrest affidavit, Avalos told investigators he had had sex with her for a "predetermined amount of money" and had not known how old she was.
On Friday, June 19, San Antonio police announced a second case. As a result of further investigation, they said, Avalos, 28, was now also charged with murder in the death of Celia Lopez, 29.
Police did not say that day how Lopez had died or where she was found. The charge itself was the news: a man already jailed in the killing of a teenager was now accused of killing a woman too.
What this story covers. The new charge, the ages, the arrest date, the circumstances in which Natalie Chavez was found and the affidavit's account of what Avalos told investigators come from the KSAT report of June 19, 2015. In June 2015 both cases were charges, and the affidavit records Avalos's own account, not a finding. Celia Lopez is named because the police announcement named her; the report gives no details of her death, and none are added here. The image is an illustration of a detective's desk, not the San Antonio police headquarters.
Sources
- Suspect charged with murder in death of second woman, KSAT (Diana Winters, Myra Arthur)