Ernesto Reyes
Posted on 09/27/2007 12:07:08 PM PDT by Dysart
CARROLLTON -- A Denton man wanted by police in connection with the slaying of a University of North Texas student can been seen on a security videotape dragging a body from the woman’s vehicle to the spot where she was found, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in the case.
Ernesto Reyes, 20, was a stranger to Melanie Goodwin, police said today. Goodwin’s body was found Tuesday morning in the 3200 block of Keller Springs Road in Carrollton.
Late Wednesday, Carrollton police issued an arrest warrant for Reyes who is accused of murder. They continued their search today. The Dallas County medical examiner’s office said today that Goodwin died from multiple blunt-force injuries.
"From all the interviews that investigators have conducted, we don’t believe she knew him," said Carrollton police Sgt. John Singleton.
Police said Goodwin, 19, was last seen talking to Reyes at about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday at a convenience store at Mayhill Road and Interstate 35E in Denton. The arrest warrant affidavit says that a clerk at the convenience store told police he remembered a man later identified as Reyes asking a woman matching Goodwin’s description for a ride. The two were then seen leaving in a red, 2002, two-door Saturn with Texas license plates Z57-WBT, police said. That car is registered to the Goodwin family, according to public records.
Goodwin’s body was found nine hours later in the 3200 block of Keller Springs Road in Carrollton. In the affidavit, police said a surveillance camera from a business at that address captured a man, later identified as Reyes, starting a fire after he removed the body from Goodwin’s car at about 4 a.m. Police said Goodwin’s body had been set on fire.
Police traced calls that Reyes made from a telephone at the convenience store to an acquaintance who identified him as the unknown man on the tape, according to the affidavit. That person also told police that Reyes had singed hair and burns on his forearms on Tuesday night.
Reyes has a criminal history that includes two 2005 convictions for burglary of a building, for which he was sentenced to six months in jail, and a possession of marijuana misdemeanor conviction from this year, according to court records.
Investigators have been unable to track down Reyes. They released a driver’s license photo of him and asked that anyone with information on his whereabouts contact local police.
More than 400 people mourned the loss of a Goodwin at a candlelight vigil Wednesday.
Friends who attended Wednesday’s vigil said the 19-year-old Goodwin, a sophomore at the University of North Texas in Denton, had an effervescent personality that "lit up the room " when she entered.
‘Everyone loved her’
Goodwin was a performer and was going to college with the goal of perhaps working in television news some day, said Matthew Bobo, a family friend who has known her for more than a decade.
"She was always wonderful," Bobo said. "Everyone loved her."
Bobo said Goodwin’s parents, Peggy and Glenn Goodwin of Arlington, last spoke to their daughter Monday afternoon and that all seemed well with her.
They said they believe she was dating someone, but the family doesn’t recognize the man in surveillance photos released by police as the "person of interest" -- later named as Reyes.
"He’s a stranger," Bobo said of Reyes.
At 7 p.m., an eclectic crowd gathered at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in southeast Arlington.
"Melanie had a powerful impact," said Beth Evers, associate pastor at United Methodist Church of Keller. "Tonight we shall each light a candle to remember the light that Melanie was."
A steady stream of friends and relatives visited Goodwin’s south Arlington home earlier Wednesday. Goodwin graduated in 2006 from Arlington’s Bowie High School and was studying radio, television and film at UNT, Bobo said.
Goodwin was a fixture in high school theatrical productions at Bowie High and at Theatre Arlington. In February 2006, she played the fairy godmother in Theatre Arlington’s production of Cinderella.
What happened to her "is a mystery to us," Bobo said.
VICTIM
Melanie Goodwin, a sophomore at the University of North Texas, was last seen alive at a Denton convenience store about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday. Her burned body was discovered about nine hours later in Carrollton.
SUSPECT
Carrollton police issued an arrest warrant late Wednesday for Ernesto Reyes, 20, of Denton. He is wanted on suspicion of murder, police said in a news release. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Carrollton Police Department at 972-466-3322.
Ernesto Reyes
Never, Ever go to the convenience store alone at 2:00am in the morning!
...no matter how safe you feel.
Prayers to her family. Senseless!
This is the TX town that the JerseyDvl has relocated to.
Yippee!
True enough. I bet this punk talked her into a ride with some sob story. I do wonder if outside cameras were able to pick up anything.
Amen to that, prayers sent. He asked for a ride. She obliged. Now she's dead. Words fail me.
A friend of my son moved with his parents to Denton recently, and he described it as a peaceful rural community about an hour north of Dallas, the last kind of place you might expect such random violence. He also mentioned that many people 'carry'.
He’s in Mexico by now.
Ernesto Reyes I pray God smacks you down with his wrath wherever you are. I curse you, I despise you. A monster like you deserves nothing but eternal fire.
Handout photo of 2006 Bowie High School graduate Melanie Goodwin, a 19-year-old whose body was found in Carrollton on Tuesday.
Obviously, not enough.
“can been seen on a security videotape dragging a body from the woman’s vehicle...”
This is one of those security videos that 90% of the posters on FreeRepublic claim is destroying our right of privacy. Pretty soon, we’ll have security cameras peeking into the windows of our homes, I’m told.
Crackheads and Drunks waiting on someone, male or female, to approach and intimidate into giving them 'gas-money'.
...or relive of their money & jewelry.
I would add to your advice that women in particular take some sort of self-defense program, which should teach them to be aware of their surroundings, and the dangers of giving a ride to someone they don't know. When they are 21, I advise them to buy and learn how to use a gun, and never leave home without it.
I will futher mention that too many young people are dying because they cannot exercise their Second Amendment rights until the age of 21. Personally, I think the age should be lowered to 18, and that students enrolled in colleges should be allowed to carry on campus if they have passed the CHL tests.
Prayers for this young lady and all who loved her.
Agreed.
So unfortunate. I'm in PA, I travel a lot on the interstates and even though there aren't drunks and addicts loitering and pestering (noticeably at least), I'm always on 'alert'. Now, more so.
Reyes is a Leegal or Illeegal POS?
Hard to say since there’s been no reporting or scuttlebutt about his legal status. I’m guessing legal by his looks, dress and age. And Carrollton isn’t really known as a haven for illegals. Certainly cannot rule it out, though.
My daughter attended school with Melanie and was in a school musical with her. She was a sweet girl and very supportive of my daughter’s music career. She will be missed. God bless her and her family.
This updated article details his legal immigration status, and demonstrates the failure of a system where his previous crimes were not deemed serious enough to warrant sending him back to mexico. I see. Tell that to Melanie Goodwin's family.
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