SAPD: Woman hires undercover officer to kill family member, gets arrested

Angelica Navarro-DePaz, 40, paid down payment to undercover officer

SAN ANTONIO – A 40-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday after she hired an undercover police officer to kill another woman, San Antonio police officials said.

According to a police report, the San Antonio Police Department High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas detail got information that Angelica Navarro-DePaz was looking to hire a hitman to kill one of her family members.

An undercover officer then negotiated with Navarro-DePaz, the report said.

A HIDTA detective posing as a hitman met with Navarro-DePaz around 5 p.m. Tuesday in the 2300 block of Southwest Military Drive, where money was exchanged.

Related: Woman accused of hiring hitman to kill ex found dead in apparent suicide

San Antonio police Sgt. Jesse Salame said for $1,700, Navarro-DePaz was going to have her relative killed.

Salame said she gave $850 to the detectives, and shortly after, uniformed police moved in and arrested her.

"When you get a case like this, you've got to determine how credible it is," Salame said. "People say things sometimes and just saying that alone is not enough to do anything about it. It's when you start to make arrangements and you start to exchange money and take those other steps to make this happen. That's when we are able to prove the case and that allows us to make an arrest."

Navarro-DePaz told the undercover officer she would pay the balance to him once the woman was killed, the report said.

The suspect was arrested after the meeting and was charged with solicitation of capital murder.

She is being held in the Bexar County Jail on $1 million bail.

Related: Man accused of hiring hitman to kill ex-girlfriend, her husband

Police said they are still trying to figure out why Navarro-DePaz wanted her relative killed.

Salame said they have notified the victim and have made sure that she was not in any danger. He said they are also working to make sure that there was no one else involved in this case.

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About the Authors:

David Ibañez has been managing editor of KSAT.com since the website's launch in October 2000.

Stephanie Serna is a weekday anchor on Good Morning San Antonio and GMSA at 9 a.m. She joined the KSAT 12 News team in November 2009 as a general assignments reporter.