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Man Accused Of Killing Pregnant Woman In Turlock Arrested In Mexico

TURLOCK (CBS13) – Authorities arrested a man in Mexico who is suspected of killing a pregnant woman and her unborn baby in Turlock last August, police said on Thursday.

Robert Penaloza Jr., 29, was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on two counts of murder, and other weapons-related charges.

According to the Turlock Police Department, officers responded on August 4, 2020, to reports of an assault along Twentieth Century Boulevard and located Amythest Cortez, 27, inside of a vehicle with a gunshot wound.

Cortez, of Gustine in Merced County, was taken to the hospital where she and the baby were declared dead.

Penaloza was determined as a suspect early on in the investigation and was believed to be living somewhere in Tijuana, Mexico, police said.

The Turlock Police Department said it collaborated with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the U.S. Marshals Service to locate Penaloza, who was located in Mexico and was extradited to Stanislaus County.

Following the killings, family of Cortez said she had seven other children who were living with other family members. Some described her as someone who tried to do the best for everyone she knew and had gone down a wrong path.

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