Louisiana man accused of killing girlfriend, taking kids, caught in Texas

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A man accused of killing his girlfriend in a New Orleans suburb over the weekend before fleeing with his three children was arrested on Monday in a trailer park in Texas, where the children were recovered unharmed, authorities said. Police found Pedro Alberto Monterroso-Navas's girlfriend, who they identified as Heidi Monroy, 24, dead in her bathtub with head trauma on Sunday morning, said Colonel John Fortunato, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. "We believe this may have occurred as a result of a domestic incident but we don’t know for certain," Fortunato said. Police were first alerted to the incident after two of the woman's children, aged 8 and 5, went to a neighbor's house early on Sunday seeking help for their mother, Fortunato said. Monterroso-Navas, 43, who lived with the woman, along with five children - two each from previous relationships and a 2-year-old they had together - was quickly identified as a suspect, Fortunato said. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office issued a warrant for his arrest on second-degree murder charges on Sunday. Monterroso-Navas was apprehended early on Monday without incident in Katy, Texas, outside of Houston, after authorities there received a tip, Fortunato said. His children from a previous relationship, aged 12 and 4, and the 2-year-old he fathered with the victim are in the custody of Texas authorities, Fortunato said. Jefferson Parish authorities will seek to have Monterroso-Navas, who also goes by Wilson Rigoberto Mena, extradited from Texas, Fortunato said. (Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans; Editing by James Dalgleish)