During a preliminary hearing on April 17, 2026, Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood described the triple murder of a Theodore family as “one of the most demonic crimes” the area has seen. Evidence presented by investigators indicated that the attack included the sexual assault and torture of 17-year-old Niurka Zuleta-Choc (known as “Zule”)
All three victims had been burned and buried together. Aurelia had been stabbed multiple times, and the 2-year-old suffered severe trauma to his skull.
The family went missing from their Theodore home on January 30, 2026. Authorities used surveillance footage of a black van and cell phone data to link Argueta-Guerra to the home and the remote area near Summerdale where the bodies were eventually recovered in March.
Guerra is in the U.S. illegally. Despite being detained in Texas in 2015 and having a final deportation order issued in 2021, he was released due to a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) order that blocked removals to El Salvador at that time.