Suspect in killing of NY mother and two toddlers arrested in Texas

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York father suspected of stabbing his wife and two young daughters to death at the weekend was arrested late Monday in Texas, police said. Miguel Mejia-Ramos, 28, was arrested in a white van with New York license plates in Schulenberg, Texas, which is about 95 miles west of Houston and about a 3-1/2-hour drive to the Mexico border. Ramos was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and Texas state troopers, according to a New York police spokesman, Detective Martin Speechley. Ramos appeared to have suffered several stab wounds and was treated at a local hospital, Speechley said. Ramos' wife Deisy Garcia, 21, and two young daughters, Daniela Mejia, 2, and Yoselin Mejia, 1, were discovered on Sunday night with fatal stab wounds by New York police responding to an emergency call to the family's Jamaica, Queens, apartment. Police did not say what the motive might have been and a lawyer for Ramos could not immediately be reached for comment. He was expected to face an extradition hearing in Texas on Tuesday, according to the New York Daily News. Ramos' arrest followed just hours after the victims' friends and family held an emotional memorial service in New York for the three victims, the Daily News reported. "There are no words that can explain for the pain I'm going through," Garcia's mother, Luz Mina, told the newspaper. She said she had told her daughter to leave Ramos but Garcia said she couldn't because her children depended on him financially. A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service did not immediately respond to a call for comment. (Reporting By Chris Francescani; Editing by Stephen Powell)