Police say the case was domestic related and led to an arrest hundreds of miles away.
EL PASO, Texas — A man arrested in El Paso is accused of killing the mother of his child in Fort Worth, a case that also triggered a multiday search for the couple’s 7-month-old baby before the child was found safe in New Mexico, according to police and family accounts.
The investigation began as relatives tried to reach 26-year-old Talia Sanchez and grew into a wider effort to locate her infant son, Levi. Fort Worth police said information collected at the crime scene was shared with other agencies and helped lead to the suspect’s arrest in far West Texas. The suspect, identified as Elijah Jordan Jacobo, 27, who also uses the name Elijah Perez, is being held in the El Paso County Jail on a murder charge with bond set at $500,000.
Family members said the last days of Sanchez’s life were marked by tension at home. They believe an argument broke out on Sunday, days before officers entered her apartment. Sanchez’s relatives said they became alarmed when she stopped responding to calls and messages. They said Sanchez was the kind of mother who would not disappear without checking on her child, and the lack of contact felt out of character.
As they searched for clues, the family said Sanchez’s mother used tracking information to locate Sanchez’s phone at her job. Relatives said the phone was not sitting out in the open. Instead, they said it had been hidden behind a pillar in a parking garage, an unsettling discovery that deepened their fear. With no response from Sanchez, the family asked police to check on her welfare.
Fort Worth officers went to the apartment near the 7300 block of Harris Parkway at about 11:53 a.m. Wed., Feb. 11, for a welfare check, according to police timelines reported publicly. Police could not get inside at first. Later that day, investigators obtained a warrant, entered the apartment and found Sanchez dead. Police said they saw evidence of a crime inside, though they have not publicly released details about her injuries or the suspected weapon.
Once officers confirmed Sanchez was dead, attention turned to her baby. Levi was not found in the apartment, relatives said, and the family began asking where he was and who had him. Police have not detailed when Levi was last seen in Fort Worth or who was believed to have taken him. The family has said the baby was missing for days, a period filled with uncertainty as they tried to piece together what happened after the reported argument.
Teresa Lovitt, Sanchez’s sister, said she tried to contact Sanchez to find out what was going on. She said Sanchez never responded. Lovitt said a phone call came from Perez after Sanchez did not answer a message, and that he claimed Sanchez had calmed down. Lovitt also described another call from Perez’s father, who she said asked the family where Sanchez was and what was happening, adding to the confusion during the early stage of the search.
Police have described the killing as domestic related. Officer Cynthia Woods, speaking for Fort Worth police, said homicide detectives gathered information at the scene and shared it with other law enforcement agencies, which she said led to the suspect being captured. Authorities have not publicly explained what information pointed investigators to El Paso, or whether the suspect was tracked through phone data, vehicle records, or witness reports.
In El Paso, jail records and published reports listed Jacobo as charged with murder and held on a $500,000 bond. Authorities have not said whether he was arrested during a traffic stop, taken into custody at a home, or located in another way. Police have also not publicly said when he could make his first court appearance in El Paso, or whether he will be moved to Tarrant County as the case proceeds.
The turning point in the search for Levi came on Saturday morning, according to the family. Relatives said they received a call from Perez’s father, who told them he had dropped the baby off at a relative’s home in New Mexico. The family said Levi was then taken into the care of child protective services in New Mexico before being reunited with Sanchez’s mother. Officials have not provided additional details about the baby’s care during that process.
Authorities have not said whether anyone else could face charges related to the baby’s movement across state lines, or whether investigators consider the drop-off a voluntary act to protect the child or part of a larger sequence that is still being reviewed. Police have also not said what, if anything, they believe happened to Sanchez’s phone between the time it was last used and the time it was found at her workplace.
Sanchez’s relatives said they are now facing two difficult tracks at once: the criminal case and the family court steps needed to secure custody of Levi. They said they are raising money for funeral expenses and for legal help as the grandparents seek to formalize custody. The family has not publicly described a full plan, but they have said Levi is now safe at home with Sanchez’s mother.
Lovitt said the family wants Levi to know, as he grows older, that his mother did not choose to leave him. She said the family plans to tell him the truth gently and keep the focus on who Sanchez was. She also said the family does not want to be consumed by what she described as the ugliness of the crime, and instead wants to hold on to the joy Sanchez brought to their lives.
Police have not released a detailed public narrative of what happened between the reported argument and the welfare check that led to the discovery of Sanchez’s body. They also have not said whether surveillance footage, digital evidence, or witnesses have been secured. The case remains active, with investigators expected to continue reviewing records and interviewing people who may have information about Sanchez’s last known movements and the baby’s travel.
As of Monday, the suspect remained jailed in El Paso, and Levi remained with Sanchez’s family in New Mexico as custody steps move forward. The next major milestone is expected to be court proceedings tied to the murder charge and any transfer process, as Fort Worth investigators continue to build their case.
Author note: Last updated February 16, 2026.