The Harris County Criminal Justice Center is photographed in Houston, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle

A jury will hear testimony Tuesday about the June 2018 disappearance of a Houston mother and paralegal whom authorities believe was killed and dismembered with a chain saw. Her body was never found.

The murder trial in the 178th District Court comes eight years following Maria Jimenez-Rodriguez's disappearance and three years after the arrest of Erik Arceneaux, 53, in her killing. He was charged in August 2019, but he vanished after police interviewed him. He was arrested in September 2023.

District Attorney Sean Teare is handling the prosecution of the case with his chief of staff, Lauren Byrne.


Arceneaux rejected a plea deal of 50 years imprisonment ahead of jury selection Monday, according to court records.

Early in the investigation, Jimenez-Rodriguez's family urged Arceneaux to come forward and tell authorities where to find her remains. The relatives also disputed characterizations - detailed in court records - that Jimenez-Rodriguez and Arceneaux were dating. The family uncovered communications between the two in which Arceneaux indicated he wanted a romantic relationship with her.

Houston Chronicle Logo Want more Houston Chronicle? Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search. Add Preferred Source

The two met at a gym, where Arceneaux worked as her personal trainer.

She was reported missing June 21, 2018, after failing to pick up her daughter from a nanny's home and go to work at the Milledge Law Group.


Police found receipts that Arceneaux purchased an electric chainsaw and trash bags from Home Depot on the day of Jimenez-Rodriguez's disappearance, as well as surveillance footage of him purportedly driving Jimenez-Rodriguez's car later that day. The vehicle was found in northeast Houston.

The complaint against Arceneaux alleges Jimenez-Rodriguez's phone went with him to Home Depot, but the device was later turned off at his h

#houstonchronicle   #crimewatchhouston