Man accused of killing his children’s mother and setting her trailer on fire before snatching the kids

A Utah man has been accused of killing the mother of his children and setting her home on fire before snatching their young children.

Deputies with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ricardo Trujillo Rojel, 29, on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated arson on Monday.

Authorities were first alerted to the situation shortly before an area amber alert was issued for the two children. The mother’s body was found inside a burning trailer in the Riverdale Manufactured Home Community in Riverdale, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Officials responded to the fire at 2:46 p.m. on Monday.

“The trailer was filled with smoke, and the responding officer saw a female laying on the ground near the doorway,” a police booking affidavit obtained by KSL.com stated. “The female victim had severe burn marks on her body.”

Deputies suspected homicide could’ve played a factor in the woman’s death when they pulled her body out of the burning structure and observed a puncture wound on her neck. It appeared the wound was made with a sharp object, the outlet reported. A pair of blue jeans nearby also had blood on them and investigators located a gas can inside the trailer.

Around 5:15 p.m., officials issued an Amber Alert for the woman’s two children, who are 2 and 3 years old. Officials say Trujillo abducted them.

Around 7:30 p.m., officials received a tip stating a man and two children were seen walking away from a truck toward Hobble Creek Canyon, a recreational area near Springville.

Sheriff’s deputies responded, recovered the children, and took Trujillo into custody. The children have been placed with family members.

Trujillo resisted arrest and assaulted an officer, police said, adding blood was found inside his vehicle. He continued to resist arrest upon arriving at Weber County Jail.

According to the outlet, neighbors reportedly told police the man and woman were moving out of the trailer on Monday. One neighbor told officials they’d heard the woman scream shortly before police arrived on the scene. Other neighbors said the couple was in the process of moving out of the structure on the day of the fire.

They were planning to move to Roy, a city in Weber County, police said.

Earlier in the day, the woman had gone to the bank with her mother, who lives in the same trailer park. At the bank, the man called the woman and told her to return home. The victim drove home after the phone call, the mother told police, adding it was the last time she spoke to her daughter.

Trujillo had previously served a 180-day sentence after being convicted of choking and punching his pregnant girlfriend in 2021.