Mother of teen allegedly killed by Ft. Bliss soldier in Juarez seeks justice

Update (February 8, 2024): Court documents newly obtained by ABC-7 show that Luna has waived his right to extradition and will be sent to Mexico to face the charge.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The mother of the 19-year-old woman killed in Ciudad Juarez in April of 2023 continues to seek justice.

Aylin Valenzuela was stabbed and shot in the head and chest on April 7, 2023.

Her mother, Claudia Valenzuela, said she would like to talk to her daughter and tell her this won't stay like this. She said she is now taking care of her two young grandchildren.

Valenzuela explained Aylin was living in Juarez at the time. She was working to become a lash tech.

Her mother said she had been seeing 23-year-old Fort Bliss soldier, Saul Luna Villa, for the past five years, but she said it wasn't romantic.

The mother told ABC-7, she called Luna Villa the night the incident happened. She said she had a feeling something wasn't right when her daughter wasn't answering her phone.

Valenzuela asked Luna Villa why he killed her daughter. He said he killed her because she was talking to other men. Valenzuela told Luna Villa that her daughter was not his.

She said she won't rest comfortably until Luna Villa is convicted.

According to court documents obtained by ABC-7, Saul Luna Villa, a Ft. Bliss soldier, is facing a charge of aggravated femicide in Mexico. He is accused of killing teenage mother Aylin Valenzuela in Juarez last year.

Court documents reveal on the evening of April 7, 2023, law enforcement authorities in Mexico were alerted to the discovery of a dead body in a Juarez neighborhood. An autopsy later revealed the victim was shot in the head and upper chest.

Earlier that day, Valenzuela's mother received a call from her daughter who said she was going out with Luna Villa that night. Luna Villa reportedly asked the victim's mother to take care of her children. He told her he didn't care about the rules and was planning to go into Juarez to see the victim despite not being allowed to cross the border.

Later that evening, the victim's mother received a picture of her daughter, while she was still alive, inside a vehicle. She also said she recognized Luna Villa's right arm in the photograph. Just minutes later, the victim's mother received a phone call from Luna Villa asking if the victim had made it home. She explained her daughter was not home. She tried to call her daughter but did not answer.

The following day, the victim's mother was able to positively identify her daughter's body to authorities. The victim's mother told authorities that her daughter had been in a four-year relationship with Luna Villa after meeting on Facebook.

According to court documents, a friend of the victim, who also lived with her in Ciudad Juarez, said the relationship between the teen and Luna Villa was not good. She described Luna Villa as jealous and possessive.

Investigators in the case are also using security footage from a house near where the victim's body was found. They believe Luna Villa is responsible because the man caught on surveillance footage laying a body on the ground was wearing the same clothing and driving the same vehicle as Luna Villa was that day.

Luna Villa is from El Paso and had been stationed at Fort Bliss for two years. He is still in the United States.