LA MARQUE, Texas — A family is left picking up the pieces after a woman was found dead at a newly built La Marque home last week.
Carlos Lara-Balcazar, 34, has been charged with murder in connection with her death, but Maria Rios' family has no idea why anyone would want to hurt her.
Her daughters said they want their mother to be remembered for the person she was and not the man who has caused their family so much pain.
"She was our support system. She was a lot to us," Rios' daughter, Cynthia Espindola, said.
Kind, giving and hardworking were just a few of the words Rios' daughters used to describe their mother.
Together for the first time since Rios' death, they used the words angry, confused and shocked to describe how they feel.
"She was so hardworking and that's all she was doing. She just went to work," her daughter, Denise Zuniga, said.
Authorities said Rios, 57, was found dead inside a house at a construction site in La Marque on Tuesday. Rios owned the company that had been contracted to clean the house once it was finished. Lara-Balcazar was arrested after investigators found evidence that had been thrown away in a dumpster about seven minutes away from his home.
"I think him being locked up for the rest of his life -- having to think about what he did -- will be closure for me," Zuniga said.
The daughters said they have no idea who Lara-Balcazar is or why he'd want to hurt their mother, who they said always saw the good in others.
"We'll have a funeral for her in the next couple of weeks, and then moving on after that, it's honestly kind of unknown," Zuniga said.
Lara-Balcazar was held on a $250,000 bond.