SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio came out to show support for the family of Mary Lou Rodriguez – the local woman allegedly killed by her husband earlier this year – at a benefit Saturday afternoon.
"It's been crazy, but in a good way," said Daniel Rodriguez, Mary Lou's brother.
The young San Antonio mother was found in Lampasas County, near Austin, last Tuesday, having been reported missing by police on July 27. Authorities said her common-law husband, 26-year-old Enrique Perez, admitted to strangling and killing Rodriguez after an argument.
He led detectives to the body after his confession.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said Perez later killed himself while in jail on charges of murder.
Their three children – ages 5,7 and 9 – are now without both parents. The family said they are going through the adoption process and are trying to keep the children with the family, but legal fees are costly.
"That's why we are doing this benefit," Daniel Rodriguez said. "They're really hurt. The next step for them: We're going through the adoption process to get custody of them."
Mary Lou's family said she never reported the abuse to police because she feared for her life.
"I hope that women going through domestic violence speak up, you know there is a lot of help," Daniel Rodriguez said.
This week, the P.E.A.C.E. Initiative, a local nonprofit, was standing just down the street from Rodriguez home, honoring the 23 victims killed due to domestic violence this year.
"There is a tremendous urgency for our community to act and to do something," Executive Director Patricia Castillo said. "We lack information in terms of parenting. We lack information in terms of the damage that this type of violence does to our families. We lack information in terms of resources."
Castillo said she started the organization in 1990 and continues to push for lawmakers and the community to come together and make a change to help stop the violence and end the cycle of abuse.
"We are not holding abusers accountable the way they need to be held accountable," she said. "So they get away with murder, basically, and that's what's happening in our community."
To help Mary Lou Rodriguez's children, click here.