Affidavit: Stolen credit card placed man at the scene where woman was murdered

The man accused of killing an El Paso woman in August 2018 was placed at the scene of the murder because he allegedly used a credit card the victim had activated two hours before her death, a criminal complaint states.

Rene Raul Torres, 42, is charged with Murder for the killing of 27-year-old Amber Marie May Mena. Criminal complaints obtained by ABC-7 imply Torres and May Mena were in a relationship and experiencing problems.

Police said the woman’s body was found on Saturday, August 18, 2018 inside her home on the 10200 block of Whitetail Dr. “The victim was found on the floor with a vacuum cleaner cord wrapped around her neck multiple times and some signs of a struggle in the room,” a criminal complaint states.

According to the court documents, Torres called 911 to report the death of May Mena and allegedly told the 911 operator he did not want to touch anything “so that he may not incriminate himself.” When police officers arrived at the home, Torres provided a sworn statement in which he allegedly lied about his whereabouts the day the victim was killed.

Investigators reviewed the victim’s bank records and learned the victim’s credit card was being used after her death. That led investigators to request surveillance footage from a Walmart where the victim’s credit card was used. The criminal complaints state surveillance footage obtained by investigators shows Torres driving the victim’s vehicle and purchasing a cell phone with the victim’s credit card.

Torres agreed to meet with detectives a second time for a recorded interview. When asked by detectives how he purchased his new phone, Torres said he paid “cash.” On the day of the victim’s death, Torres allegedly told investigators he had lost his phone.

On February 5, 2019, Torres was jailed for an unrelated offense. At that time, he allegedly told investigators he had lied to police about using the victim’s credit card. Torres also allegedly changed his timeline of events the day the woman was killed.

Police would go on to learn the victim had obtained and activated the stolen credit card two hours before she was killed. Since Torres admitted to using the victim’s credit card, that “placed him at the crime scene with the credit card he later used and lied to police about using,” the criminal complaint states.

Detectives also spoke with a mutual friend of Torres and the victim. The man told detectives, that during a conversation, Torres started crying and said, in regards to the victim, “My shorty. I should not have done it.”

Police jailed Torres at the El Paso County Detention Facility on a $1-million bond.