At approximately 11:41 AM the Conroe Police Department was dispatched to a welfare check at the Reserve at Forest Ridge apartments, located at 3030 N. Frazier. Officers were told that a female called the Police Department and said that her brother had stabbed and killed his girlfriend. Police arrived moments later and found 20-year-old Cassandra Benitez dead of apparent stab wounds. There was nobody inside the apartment with the victim. Conroe Police Detectives, Crime Scene Officers, Montgomery County DA’s Office, and Montgomery County Forensic Death Investigators responded to the scene and conducted an investigation. Justice of the Peace (Pct. 1) Judge Wayne Mack was contacted and ordered an autopsy.
Detectives learned that the female’s 23-year-old boyfriend, Lirio Maldonado Jr., told family members that he had killed Cassandra at their apartment. The family lives in Willis and contacted Police there. Willis PD Officers were able to make contact with Maldonado and detain him for the Conroe Police. Maldonado was transported to Conroe Regional and was treated and released for an injury sustained during the murder. Maldonado and Cassandra have two small children that were in the home at the time of her murder. As a result of the investigation, Lirio Maldonado Jr. (DOB 09-22-95) was arrested and booked into the Montgomery County jail for Murder. The children were not injured and were released to Child Protective Services.
