ODESSA, Texas — (Editor's note: The video above is from previous reporting on the incident.)
Three people who were arrested for their roles in the death of a woman with Down syndrome back in January now face charges of murder and knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a disabled person.
Ector County jail records show that Justin Raines, Elvira Luera and Christine Claros are currently behind bars, each on a $500,000 bond.
Raines and Luera were indicted on Sept. 9, according to court records. They both have arraignment hearings set for Sept. 20.
Claros has not yet been indicted.
According to the arrest affidavit from the Odessa Police Department, officers responded to a call about a deceased person at a home on Amber Drive on Jan. 29, 2022.
Officers found the body of a woman who was later identified as Brenda Raines. They found her living in filthy conditions, which included a soiled adult diaper, dog feces and urine. She was also extremely underweight.
Luera, Raines and Claros were the three family members living with Brenda at the time. Medical records showed that Brenda had Down syndrome and some serious intellectual disabilities. The family members told detectives Brenda could not walk, speak, feed or bathe herself.
Claros was the sole caretaker of Brenda and told detectives she would never leave Brenda alone throughout the night. However, on Jan. 28, 2022, video showed Claros leaving the residence at 7:38 p.m. and not returning until 3:07 p.m. Jan. 29. Raines and Luera said they both did not check on Brenda while Claros was out.
The autopsy revealed Brenda starved to death and it was ruled a homicide.
Luera and Raines were arrested in Ector County, while the Ector County Sheriff's Office said Claros was arrested by the Houston Police Department.
We will continue to update this story as we receive more information.