NEED TO KNOW
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Mario Alberto Rodriquez, 33, pleaded guilty in Potter County, Texas, to murder in the 2022 shooting death of his girlfriend Marisela Mendoza
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Police said Rodriquez shot Mendoza during an argument in the parking lot of a Texas Roadhouse restaurant before fleeing with two young girls, prompting an AMBER Alert
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Court records reviewed by PEOPLE show he also faced — and later had dismissed — child-neglect and domestic-abuse charges filed in Oklahoma in 2021
An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for shooting his girlfriend to death during an argument outside a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Amarillo, Texas.
Court records reviewed by PEOPLE show Mario Alberto Rodriquez, 33, pleaded guilty on Oct. 6 in Potter County to one count of murder in the 2022 killing of 23-year-old Marisela Mendoza. Judge Steven Denny imposed the 60-year sentence that same day.
Around 8:30 p.m. on April 30, 2022, Rodriquez and Mendoza got into an argument in the parking lot of the restaurant before Rodriquez pulled out a gun and shot her, according to KVII, FOX Carolina and KFDA. She was taken to a hospital, where she died, the outlets reported.
A diner inside the restaurant at the time, Cathlina King, said she was eating dinner with her children when the gunfire erupted.
“I came to eat at Texas Roadhouse with the kids and someone was just shot in the parking lot right outside the window where we are sitting… It was scary at first because a bullet could have easily come through a window,” King wrote in a post on Facebook, per KTXS 12. “This isn’t the Amarillo I moved to… Maybe we all need to start carrying protection.”
Rodriquez then fled the scene in a gray Dodge Charger with two young girls, prompting an AMBER Alert that was canceled several hours later when he was arrested near Hereford, Texas, according to the outlets.
It is unclear whether the children in the vehicle were Rodriquez’s. They were unharmed.
Separate Oklahoma court records reviewed by PEOPLE show that Rodriquez was charged in 2021 with child neglect and domestic abuse — assault and battery in the presence of a child. Both counts were dismissed with costs in 2025, according to the docket.
Rodriquez’s guilty plea resolved the Texas murder case ahead of a trial set for 2026, per court records.
Read the original article on People
