JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The husband of an 18-year-old mother who was found dead in April in her apartment has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and been sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Jose Valle admitted to beating and strangling Rosa Garcia.
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Police said Valle was working the previous night and started drinking. When he got home, he and Garcia got into an argument, and he killed her, police said.
Investigators said Valle went to his sister's house on Atlantic Boulevard and gave her the keys to the house and his 2-year-old daughter, then said someone needed to go check on Garcia. When the sister got to the home, she found Garcia dead.
Police said Valle fled to Palm Beach County, and they found and arrested him at his sister's house.
Police said Valle had been deported to Mexico twice before, once in June 2009 from California for domestic violence and once in January 2011 from Texas. Police said there was no history of domestic violence between Valle and Garcia.
Garcia worked at La Nopalera in Jacksonville Beach.
The couple's 2-year-old daughter was taken into the care of the Department of Children and Families following Garcia's death.