ONTARIO, Ore. -- New details continue to emerge in a homicide investigation in Ontario, Oregon.
Around 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, officers were called to an apartment at 1371 SW 8th Avenue #6 in Ontario. There they found a deceased female identified as 56-year-old Araceli Hernandez.
Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris says upon further investigation, detectives identified Antonio Alfaro Villa, 32, as a suspect in Hernandez's death. Villa was arrested by an Oregon State Police trooper for driving under the influence Monday between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
The trooper found a cat in the vehicle that belonged to Hernandez. The pet was returned to a family. It was that family member who went to Hernandez's Ontario apartment and found her body.
Norris says Hernandez likely died between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. It appears a knife or other sharp object was used as the murder weapon. Hernandez and Villa were involved in a boyfriend-girlfriend type relationship.
An autopsy will be performed Thursday at the State Medical Examiner's office in Portland, Oregon.
Villa will be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today on the murder charge.
NewsChannel 7 has a crew in Ontario today and is working to gather more information about this homicide investigation.
Stay with KTVB.COM for updates on this developing story.
