Oklahoma man sentenced to 60 years for killing girlfriend outside Amarillo Texas Roadhouse
Oklahoma man sentenced to 60 years for killing girlfriend outside Amarillo Texas Roadhouse
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - An Oklahoma man who shot his 23-year-old girlfriend as they argued in the parking lot of a Texas Roadhouse will spend decades behind bars.
Mario Alberto Rodriquez, 33, appeared in the 320th District Court to submit his plea of guilty to Honorable Judge Steve Denny.
Rodriquez was charged with murder following an April 30, 2022 shooting.
On that date, Amarillo police were sent to Texas Roadhouse on reports of shots fired. Upon arrival, they found a woman with life-threatening gunshot wounds.
The victim, later identified as 23-year-old Marisela Mendoza, was taken to an area hospital where she later died from her injuries.
Homicide investigators spoke with witnesses and learned that the suspect and victim were in a relationship and did not live in Amarillo.
They travelled to Amarillo separately and chose to meet in the parking lot of Texas Roadhouse. However, the couple began arguing in the parking lot, prompting the suspect to pull out a firearm and shoot Mendoza through the car window.
The suspect, then identified as Rodriquez, left the scene in a 2018 Dodge Charger with Oklahoma license plates.
Rodriguez, 33, will spend 60 years in TDCJ for the murder of Marisela Mendoza (Potter County Sheriff's Office)
Officers also learned that there were two young girls in Rodriquez’s car and issued an AMBER alert.
While the initial reports did not specify the relationship, court documents from Texas County, Oklahoma establish Rodriquez as the father. Additionally, court records show that Rodriquez was awarded primary custody of the children in a divorce finalized in 2018.
The AMBER alert was cancelled several hours later when Rodriquez and the two children, ages five and eight, were located near Hereford, Texas.
Rodriquez was arrested and taken to Deaf Smith County Jail while the children were placed with relatives.
He was transferred to Potter County Detention Center where he remained in lieu of bond on a murder charge. A Potter County grand jury indicted him in July 2022.
He was briefly transferred to Texas County, Oklahoma in February to satisfy a warrant issued for child neglect and domestic abuse—assault and battery in presence of child.
Those charges were dismissed without cost and Rodriquez was promptly returned to Potter County by May.
A trial date was tentatively scheduled for February 2026.
On October 6, Rodriquez appeared in court and pleaded guilty to the murder of Mendoza in exchange for 60 years in prison.
Mendoza’s obituary describes her as a devoted mother and someone who “lived life to the fullest, wanting to experience and enjoy everything possible.”