ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) – Police say it could be weeks before a Roswell man accused of killing his family is brought back to the U.S. to face charges.
Juan David Villegas-Hernandez, 34, was apprehended in the area of Arizpe, Mexico on Sunday. Police were on the lookout for Villegas-Hernandez since Saturday when he allegedly shot his wife Cynthia and four young daughters at their home on Davis Street in Roswell.
According to court documents, they were shot in their beds and it was a 15-year-old cousin who found the bodies after crawling into a window to check on them after the family became concerned. Family members say Juan Villegas-Hernandez had lost his job and his wife had recently asked for a divorce.
Family members tell police they now believe Villegas-Hernandez planned for some time to kill his wife and daughters. They say he had been selling off his livestock, something they didn’t think was strange until now.
A family member says they even tried to get into the home Saturday but Villegas-Hernandez wouldn’t let them. When asked where the girls were he said, “with their mother.” Their bodies were found hours later.
As for Villegas-Hernandez, Mexican authorities say because he has dual citizenship it will take some time to get him extradited to New Mexico.
Meanwhile, people who live along Davis Street in Roswell where this happened are in shock.
A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Saturday evening on the corner of 23rd and Davis. Organizers are inviting anyone who wants to come out to remember the family.
