A Norristown man pleaded guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend in a jealous rage
Elvyn Rodriguez shot Keishla Arroyo-Rodriguez once in the head inside the apartment they once shared in Norristown, prosecutors said.
A Norristown man was sentenced to state prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to killing his girlfriend as her three children sat in a nearby room.
Elvyn Rodriguez, 33, entered the plea to third-degree murder during a hearing before Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter. Carpenter sentenced Rodriguez afterward to 32½ to 65 years in prison for the killing of Keishla Arroyo-Rodriguez, 28.
Rodriguez’s attorney, Thomas Egan III, said Wednesday that Rodriguez had always intended to plead guilty.
“He didn’t want to put the family of the victim through a trial, and most importantly didn’t want to put the children of the victim through a trial,” Egan said. “He knew they would be required to be witnesses, and he didn’t want to inflict that kind of additional mental strain on them.”
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Assistant District Attorney Allison Ruth, who prosecuted the case, said she, too, wanted to spare Arroyo-Rodriguez’s children from testifying. The children, who were 7, 5, and 3 at the time of the murder, are living out of state with relatives.
“When a woman breaks up with her partner, that is the time in a relationship when there is the greatest risk for violence,” Ruth said. “Anyone struggling should seek help. There are resources available to avoid tragedies from happening.“
Rodriguez drove to Arroyo-Rodriguez’s house in January, fuming that she had moved on from their relationship and had been dating another man, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. The two had broken up before Christmas, prosecutors said, and Rodriguez had called the father of her children hours before her death, asking if he had seen her and acting “in a jealous manner.”
When he arrived at Arroyo-Rodriguez’s home, he forced his way inside and confronted her in the bathroom, according to an account her 7-year-old daughter gave to police. The girl said she heard several loud bangs, then watched as Rodriguez fled the apartment. She was able to force the bathroom door open and found her mother inside, unresponsive on the floor.
A coroner determined Arroyo-Rodriguez had been shot once in the head.