Police plead with groom to turn himself in
A manhunt continues for 30-year-old Arnoldo Jimenez, who is accused in the slaying of Estrella Carrera, 26, shortly after they celebrated their marriage on Friday with friends, said police in Burbank.
Police are pleading with Jimenez to turn himself in “for the sake of his family and especially his children,” Capt. Joseph Ford of the Burbank Police Department told the AP. “I am sure they are very concerned for his well-being.”
Most of the bride’s family disapproved of her relationship with Jimenez, who is the father of one of Carrera’s children, a 2-year-old boy, according to an older sister who talked to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Jazmin Carrera she doesn’t understand why her sister married Jimenez on Friday at Chicago City Hall. The wedding plans seemed rushed. Jazmin Carrera missed the celebration at a restaurant and nightclub after the ceremony — she’d been invited via a last-minute text message from the bride.
“It was just all of a sudden,” Jazmin Carrera said. “She didn’t give us enough notice.”
Family members became concerned when Estrella Carrera failed to pick up her two children Saturday as she’d arranged. They were unable to reach Carrera or Jimenez by cellphone, so they asked police to check on her well-being. That’s when the body was found in a bathtub, clad in the silver, sequined cocktail dress she wore at the wedding reception. Ford said it was possible she was also wed in the short dress.
Ford said Jimenez was previously arrested on a charge of domestic violence in another city in a case that did not involve Carrera. Police don’t know what Jimenez does for a living, although he was last known to be driving a black 2006 Maserati.
“We do not believe Jimenez is a danger to others, but we certainly do not know his mind frame at the present time,” Ford told the AP.
After Friday’s nuptials, the couple had dinner with friends at a restaurant, then headed to a nightclub in a party limousine. They were last seen at 4 a.m. Saturday.
Since the killing likely took place mere hours after the couple went to Carrera’s Burbank apartment, the suspect had a day to flee the metropolitan area or even the state, Ford said.
“It was a very brutal killing,” Ford said. “We do our jobs every day, of course. But something like this really motivates you to work even harder.”