Orange County Man Arrested on Suspicion of Murder in Connection to Death of Former Girlfriend
Above: Mirelle Mateus | Photos courtesy of Anaheim PD
An Orange County man has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection to the death of his former girlfriend.
Aaron Romo
In a press release earlier this week, the Anaheim Police Department identified 36-year-old Aaron Romo as the primary suspect in the death of Mirelle Mateus, 24, of La Palma.
Last week, on the afternoon of Friday, March 17, the department dispatched officers to an apartment on the 1900 block of South Union Street to investigate reports of “suspicious circumstances.” At the scene, officers found Mateus’s body.
Homicide detectives responded and took over the investigation, soon identifying Romo as the primary suspect. Romo and Mateus had previously been in a romantic relationship, police said.
Romo was located and arrested in Riverside County later that same day, and subsequently booked at the Anaheim PD Detention Facility on suspicion of murder. He was scheduled to be arraigned this past Tuesday, March 21.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, and police have not disclosed any details regarding a possible motive.
Detectives believe that Romo has assaulted other women, and are encouraging anyone with information relevant to this case or who has had contact with him to reach out to Anaheim PD at 714-321-3669, or the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS or www.occrimestoppers.org.
According to a recent report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, law enforcement data indicates that, of the nearly 5,000 female victims of murder and non-negligent homicide in 2021, 34% of these crimes were committed by an intimate partner. The Bureau goes on to state that, overall, 76% of female murders and 56% male murders were committed by someone the victim knew.
These figures were compiled using information collected by the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which is a data collection system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to compile data “on all crimes reported by participating state and local authorities” (BJS).
