SAN ANTONIO – A 19-year-old man was arrested and charged with capital murder Friday in connection with the slaying of his 18-year-old girlfriend and her unborn child.
According to Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman James Keith, Courtney Hyriease Velasques was arrested without incident in the 900 block of Upland Road.
According to witnesses, Velasques admitted to drowning Dawanna Thomas in Salado Creek off Rittiman Road before he tried to burn her body on Schuwirth Road near FM 1346 on Feb. 14, Keith said.
Firefighters found Thomas' body while putting out a grass fire at the location.
Keith said Velasques confessed to the murders.
"We have talked to him a couple of times (and) brought him in," Keith said. "He will face (a charge of) capital murder - multiple persons."
Investigators believe Thomas was carrying Velasques' baby. They also believe an argument between the couple led to the murders.
"According to some witness statements we received, they had gotten into an argument," Keith said. "There may have been some jealousy involved. She may have been talking to someone else at the time. We're still trying to sort all that out right now."
According to his arrest warrant obtained Friday night, the last person Thomas was seen with, according to her roommates, was Velasques.
They told police investigators Velasques was arguing with the her in the back seat of their car. They said they saw Velasques pulling Thomas by her neck.
Her roommates tried to get help, but by the time they got back, the couple was gone.
Velasques confessed to drowning Thomas in a creek, then stuffing her naked body in bag and trying to submerge it with a log.
Velasques then said in a sworn statement that he called one of his relatives Saturday night to pick him up near a fast food restaurant off of Rittiman Road near Interstate 35.
That relative told investigators that Velasques' pants were wet and that he told them on Valentine's night, "I can't believe I did it, I killed her," referring to Thomas.
Keith said Velasques has a criminal record as a juvenile. The capital murder charges will be his first charges as an adult.