Man Pleads For Help To Bury His Murdered Ex-Wife
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - Police have arrested the suspect in the murder of a woman who was shot to death inside her Westminster apartment.
Family members identified the shooting victim as Roxanne Holguin, 32, a mother of five children.
Police found Holguin dead on Sept. 3 inside the apartment in a complex near 70th Place and Stuart Street.
Officers arrested the suspect, Jarred Strenge, 31, on unrelated warrants last week. The victim's loved ones said that Strenge was the victim's husband.
A police spokesperson said that police were investigating Strenge on suspicion of second-degree homicide, but that he had not yet been charged.
Two weeks after her death, members of Holguin's extended family were asking for the public's help to bury her.
"I didn't really realize how much I loved her until she was gone," said Carlos Basaldua, Holguin's ex-husband.
He said that Holguin was shot in the neck just days before her 33rd birthday.
Now, Holguin's and Basaldua's 11-year-old son will grow up without his mother.
"He was devastated," said Basaldua. "I've never seen my son that sad. She was really active in helping me raise this child … not having that (anymore) is really heartbreaking to me."
According to the Holguin's Facebook page, she had been married to Strenge since 2010.
Holguin's violent death stirred up many emotions for Basaldua.
"I'm completely disgusted," he said. "I don't know how any person with a soul could let something like that happen to someone that they supposedly love, and then leave."
A background check revealed that Strenge has a lengthy criminal history involving domestic violence, drugs, and theft.
While Basaldua can't change how Holguin died, he hopes to change how she rests.
So far, the family has been unable to afford her burial.
Basaldua started an online campaign to raise money for that cause. He hopes to raise enough to give her a funeral and burial, for the sake of his son.
"He expressed to me that it was really important for us to be able to have a good burial for his mother," Basaldua said.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
