Dallas, TX – A Dallas County jury has found 40-year-old Cirilo Espinoza-Jaimes guilty of Murder in the brutal 2023 killing of 26-year-old Alex Antonio Rodriguez-Lopez, sentencing him to 40 years in prison.
On the night of September 6, 2023, Rodriguez-Lopez returned home to his apartment on Brockbank Drive in Northwest Dallas after spending the evening at church and getting ice cream with his girlfriend and her children. As he stepped through his front door, he was ambushed and stabbed 34 times. The attacker then dragged him to the bathroom and left him to die. The next morning, the victim’s girlfriend discovered his body and called 911.
Detective Jake Morgan of the Dallas Police Department led the investigation, uncovering that the murder was the result of months of stalking and planning by the defendant — the girlfriend’s ex-husband. Espinoza-Jaimes, a sushi chef, had been following Rodriguez-Lopez for weeks, studying his routine and preparing for the attack, which took place on what would have been the defendant’s anniversary.
Surveillance cameras, Flock license plate readers, cell phone GPS data, and call records placed Espinoza-Jaimes at the scene for hours before and after the murder. Investigators also found that he had:
-
Visited the area multiple times in the weeks before the attack.
-
Rented a storage unit two weeks prior and went there the morning after the murder.
-
Made trips to Home Depot both before and after the killing.
-
Cleaned his truck the following morning.
-
Researched Santa Muerte, the victim, and various weapons online.
Though Espinoza-Jaimes left behind no physical evidence, technology and meticulous investigative work pieced together the case that proved his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case was prosecuted by Lead Prosecutor Emily Antram and 2nd Chair Amy Eades, with investigative support from DA Investigator Claudia Marroquin and DA Paralegal Andretta Lewis.
