Man indicted in killing of woman missing three months
A Nueces County grand jury indicted a man accused of killing a Corpus Christi woman who'd been missing about three months.
Joseph Matthew Tejeda, a documented gang member with a criminal record, was indicted on a murder charge Thursday, District Attorney Mark Gonzalez said.
Breanna Wood was last seen with Tejeda at a PMI market at the intersection of Tancahua Street and Hancock Avenue in October, according to Corpus Christi police. Her mother last heard from the 21-year-old about 10 p.m. that night when the two texted. Wood told her mom she was headed home.
Police found Wood's body on Jan. 3 after an inmate reported he was paid to dispose of her remains. The inmate directed police to an abandoned oil field trailer surrounded by brush off State Highway 666 near Robstown. Her body was found inside a box measuring smaller than 2-feet-by-2-feet and covered with a white sheet.
Another inmate later reached out to police and said Tejeda, with whom he shared a cell, confessed to killing Wood. The inmate told police Tejeda said he shot Wood in the back of the head at his apartment across from the PMI, according to an arrest affidavit. Then Tejeda broke Wood's arms and raped her corpse, the inmate told police. Tejeda told the inmate Wood's body would never be found. When the inmate heard police found her, he wanted to tell police what Tejeda said. According to a police report, the medical examiner confirmed Wood's wounds were consistent with the inmate's story.