Aida Rodriguez, 64, was found strangled, blindfolded and bruised inside her Melrose apartment in the summer of 2000, and police struggled to track down leads in the case until late last year when a DNA match led authorities to an undocumented man in a Texas prison, her sons claim.
A suspect in the 2000 unsolved murder of a Bronx woman will be deported to his native Honduras next week unless authorities in Texas extradite the man to New York City.
Aida Rodriguez, 64, was found strangled, blindfolded and bruised inside her Melrose apartment in the summer of 2000, and police struggled to track down leads in the case until late last year when a DNA match led authorities to an undocumented man in a Texas prison, her sons claim.
But despite the match to the man authorities call Mr. Honduras, Bronx District Attorney Gang Prevention Chief Edward Talty told brothers Nelson and Fernando Sierra that he did not have enough evidence to bring the man to trial.
Texas authorities plan to deport the suspect next week.
“Time is of the essence,” Nelson Sierra told the Daily News Thursday. “Once this guy is deported, we lose any possibilities of furthering this.”
Bronx detectives traveled to Texas and interrogated the man, known by alias Mr. Honduras, for nine hours in December and believed he had something to do with Rodriguez’s murder, according to the Sierra brothers.
The brothers said the detective told them the man initially claimed he didn’t know Rodriguez. But when confronted with the DNA evidence, changed his tune, and claimed the pair had a relationship.
In order to extradite the man, the district attorney’s office would have to file charges and then petition the Governor’s Office to begin legal proceedings in Texas.
Steven Reed, spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney, declined to comment on the case Thursday, but did say the his office has been keeping Rodriguez’s family updated.
“The death of Aida Rodriguez is the subject of an open and active investigation,” said Reed. “Beyond that, we cannot comment.”
NYPD officials Thursday said they were pursuing the case. “This is an active investigation,” Deputy Chief Kim Y. Royster said. “The NYPD is working with several law enforcement partners to identify and arrest the individual [or individuals] responsible for this crime.”
Rodriguez was well known in the neighborhood for reading tarot cards and for her devoted practice of Santeria, her sons said. Nothing was taken from the flat on the night of the murder, except for the jewelry she had on, they said.
“She did card readings, but that’s no reason for someone to be killed,” said Nelson Sierra, adding, “She was so giving, so trustworthy. She became a victim of her kindness.”
The brothers said they simply want justice for their mom.
“I’d rather take a chance in court and have some closure,” said Fernando Sierra, 51. “If they’ve got a DNA match, then what’s the problem? I’m scared that the system will step all over me and my family again.”
jcunningham@nydailynews.com
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