Houston police link man accused of sexually assaulting child to fatal 2018 stabbing

Estanislado Alvarez-Hernandez was charged in the 2018 stabbing of Maria Gonzalez. Estanislado Alvarez-Hernandez was charged in the 2018 stabbing of Maria Gonzalez. Photo: Houston Police Department Photo: Houston Police Department Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Houston police link man accused of sexually assaulting child to fatal 2018 stabbing 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A man charged in the stabbing death of a woman last year in her living room was already jailed in Houston for allegedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, according to court records.

Estanislado Alvarez-Hernandez, 26, is accused of slaying Maria Gonzalez at her apartment in the 10500 block of Spice Lane in August, police said Wednesday.

Alvarez-Hernandez, a Honduran native, was identified as the suspect who a witness saw struggling with Gonzalez and then fleeing her apartment. He was already in the Harris County Jail on two unrelated charges, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and super aggravated sex assault of a child, when he was charged in Gonzalez's death.

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A Houston police officer arrested Alvarez-Hernandez on the sex assault charge on Dec. 23.

In that incident, a 12-year-old girl texted 911, sending messages that she needed to be rescued from a man later identified as Alvarez-Hernandez. Authorities located his apartment based on information in her texts.

She told authorities she met Alvarez-Hernandez on Facebook, that he picked her up from her house and that they had sex at his house the first day that they met, a prosecutor said during a probable cause hearing on Christmas Day.

She realized her mistake as the weekend went on and wanted to leave him, but was afraid because he threatened to kill her, the prosecutor said. The girl said the man carried a gun with him.

When police arrived at Alvarez-Hernandez's apartment, he had a .38-caliber gun, authorities said. Police then found the girl inside, who told them Alvarez-Hernandez raped her.

A public defender said Alvarez-Hernandez, a landscaper, has lived in the United States for three years and is renting the Houston apartment with his sister.

He was previously indicted on the federal charge of alien in possession of a weapon charge in May 2017 and a warrant for his arrest was issued later that year after he failed to appear in court. The U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a hold on Alvarez-Hernandez after his most recent arrest in Houston.