El Paso Police charge man with murder in Wednesday’s suspicious death

June 11 Update: El Paso Police have arrested and charged a man with murder in the suspicious death of a woman Wednesday.

Police say that 45-year-old Eddie Estep, who is believed to be the boyfriend of the dead woman, Tonya Renee Brewer, allegedly attacked Brewer and in the process her head struck the ground.

Police confirm that Estep was the “friend” that was detained Wednesday night in connection with the investigation.

According to the affidavit, at about 10:30 a.m. on June 7 a passerby called 911 after seeing a woman, who later turned out to be Brewer, passed out against a fence in the 6700 block of Gateway West between the Howdy’s and Los Paisanos bus station.

The passerby saw a male, later identified as matching the description of Estep, leaning over Brewer and tapping her on the face and ribs, as if to revive her.

Once Brewer was taken to UMC, medical personnel discovered Brewer had vaginal bleeding indicative of a sexual assault.

UMC medical personnel told police that Estep had visited Brewer every day at the hospital and claimed to be her boyfriend. The affidavit states she had several wounds to her face, legs, and back consistent with a struggle and defensive wounds.

Medical personnel told police that her head injuries, including shifting of the brain, indicated an assault.

UMC medical personnel told police that she would not recover from injuries and would be removed from life support. She was removed from life support and died Wednesday night.

Investigators say that the assault that led to the death of Brewer occurred sometime between 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, 2015 and when she was observed to be unresponsive on Sunday morning.

Estep gave a voluntary statement to police in which he described what happened the day of the incident. During his interview, police say he provided detectives with several versions of incident, including denial, but later admitted to the assault.

According to the affidavit, Estep said Brewer was standing over him as he was sleeping and woke him up. He pushed her off and a struggle ensued.

Estep admitted to assaulting Brewer and said that during the assault she may have struck her head on the asphalt or a rock, according to the affidavit.

When police asked him why he assaulted her he said he was tired of her always abusing him, according to the affidavit.

Investigators have not determined if Brewer had been the victim of a sexual assault and that remains under investigation.

Estep has been booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on the charge of Murder and his bond was set at $500,000.

This is the eighth homicide of 2015 compared to six at this time in 2014.

June 10 Story: Police are investigating the “suspicious death” of a 38-year-old woman.

Investigators were called to University Medical Center shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday to investigate the possible sexual assault of a woman.

The woman died Wednesday evening, according to a police spokesman. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death.

The investigation led police to a property near the Shell gasoline station at Airway and Gateway West, where investigators believe the woman may have been raped.

Investigators tell ABC-7 a friend of the woman is detained at police headquarters for questioning. Police say the man is not a suspect and he is not under arrest.