Tragic Case: Man Accused of Kidnapping and Murdering Family, Including Young Child, Found Buried

In Alabama, the grim discovery of a missing mother and her two children has shocked the community. The tragic revelation came when authorities found their bodies buried in the woods, enveloped in plastic and bedding, after being brutally murdered with a sharp-edged weapon, according to a statement from the local sheriff.

The case took a significant turn when Hector Gamaliel Argueta-Guerra, 31, who had been detained in the Mobile County Jail since February on kidnapping charges, faced escalating accusations. On Thursday, prosecutors charged him with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Aurelia Choc Cac, 40, her 17-year-old daughter Niurka Zuleta Choc, and young Anthony Garcia Choc, aged 2.

The Choc family was last seen at their residence on Ben Hamilton Road in Theodore, a community located approximately 15 miles southwest of Mobile, around 3 p.m. on January 30. Their disappearance was reported the following day after law enforcement officers discovered evidence of a struggle in their home, including significant blood traces. This led to the subsequent discovery of their bodies at a property linked to Argueta-Guerra on Wednesday, as detailed by Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch during a press conference.

The prosecution has made clear its intentions, stating that the state will pursue the death penalty in this harrowing case.

“He’s an evil person who will face his judgment soon,” Sheriff Burch asserted, underscoring the gravity of the charges against Argueta-Guerra.

The sheriff said cops are still trying to figure out why Argueta-Guerra allegedly killed his victims.

“What motive would there be for killing a 2-year-old?” he said. “We don’t know.”

Local NBC affiliate WPMI obtained an arrest affidavit that said the victims were killed with a sharp-edged weapon. The 2-year-old boy suffered “sharp force trauma” to the head area while his mother was apparently stabbed in the chest and back, the affidavit reportedly stated. They were then taken to a wooded area in nearby Baldwin County and buried in a “clandestine grave.”

Authorities are still working to positively identify the bodies but they believe they are the Choc family based on some of the jewelry they were wearing.

The defendant is allegedly a member of the Sureños gang, a California-based group associated with the Mexican mafia. Argueta-Guerra was slated for deportation in 2021 but was released for unknown reasons, officials said.

“Hector, you are a sick person to do what you did to this family and we know if convicted, you will never see the outside world again,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.