DNA Breakthrough Leads to Indictment in 2016 Killing of Laredo Mother of Nine

LAREDO, TX – The Texas Rangers and the Laredo Police Department have identified the man believed to be responsible for the 2016 killing of 33-year-old Janette Escamilla Jaramillo, of Laredo. Almost a decade after Jaramillo’s death, a Webb County grand jury has indicted Sergio Mendez, 42.

On May 18, 2016, around midnight, Jaramillo—a mother of nine—left work to return home, but never made it. As daylight broke hours later, her body was discovered by Laredo Parks and Recreation Department employees underneath a skate ramp at Seven Flags Park – just blocks from where she lived. Jaramillo had been brutally strangled after an attempted sexual assault. 

Investigators quickly discovered surveillance video capturing Jaramillo walking with an unidentified suspect about 30 minutes after she was last seen leaving work. The suspect was described as tall with short, cropped hair and wearing a trash bag, likely due to rain that evening. Unfortunately, there was insufficient evidence to make any arrests in Jaramillo’s case.

Then, in 2021, Jaramillo’s case was identified as being eligible for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program, which is funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA). DOJ/BJA provides investigative funding for agencies across the United States to further unsolved sexual assaults and sexually related homicides with the hope of bringing justice to the victims and their families.

SAKI grant funds were utilized to cover the cost of the Advanced DNA testing through Bode Technologies. The testing led to Mendez’s identity, which was confirmed through normal forensic DNA testing.

Mendez was indicted by a Webb Co. grand jury on March 12, 2025. He is already serving a 10-year prison sentence in Edinburg for an unrelated crime and remains in custody.