A man accused of strangling a pregnant teenager and leaving her body in the woods was granted bond again after a Gwinnett County grand jury indicted him on additional charges in the death of his 16-year-old girlfriend and unborn son.
Prosecutors said Jesus Monroy, 20, lured Mia Campos from her Loganville-area home on July 14, 2024, after offering to drive her to a nearby QuikTrip for late-night snacks. But Campos never made it to the gas station, authorities said.
Her body was discovered hours later after concerned relatives tracked Campos’ cellphone to a wooded area not far from their home. She was seven months pregnant with Monroy’s baby, whom she planned to name Sebastian, authorities said, citing the results of a DNA test that came back Wednesday.
“This defendant molested a teenage girl, got her pregnant and then killed her and her unborn baby,” prosecutor Megan Matteucci told Superior Court Judge Tuwanda Williams on Wednesday, urging her to deny bond.
She argued Monroy never wanted to be a father and said he repeatedly urged his underage girlfriend to get an abortion.
After learning their daughter was pregnant, authorities said Mia’s parents had a meeting with Monroy and his family and decided not to report the relationship to law enforcement if Monroy agreed to help support Campos and their child. Their relationship began when Monroy was 19 and Mia was 15.
Instead of picking her up at home the night she was killed, Matteucci said Monroy instructed the pregnant teen to walk to the front of her neighborhood and met her there. During the walk, the 16-year-old texted a friend that she was scared, according to prosecutors, who said it was the last communication she ever sent.
Authorities also said Monroy instructed Campos to delete a string of messages from her phone the night she was killed.
Campos’ parents and brother spoke during Wednesday’s bond hearing, telling the judge the teen’s slaying has devastated their family. They urged her to deny bond and keep Monroy behind bars as he awaits trial.
“Ever since that night, I’ve carried so much guilt because I was the last one to see my little sister alive,” Alexis Campos said on the stand. “She told me she was going to the gas station with Jesus and I just let her go.”
Now he listens to their mother cry each night “because her heart and the light of her life isn’t here anymore.”
Mia’s father, Edward Campos, recalled how happy he was to hold his daughter for the first time. He was proud of the person she’d become and said he looked forward to becoming a grandpa.
He said he is constantly reminded of his daughter and still thinks of her each time he walks past her vacant bedroom.
“I got this pain that I’m going to carry for the rest of my life,” he said.
Monroy, who was granted $50,000 bond last year by a now-retired judge, faces 10 counts, including malice murder, felony murder, feticide, aggravated assault, enticing a child for indecent purposes, statutory rape, child molestation and three counts of making false statements.
Defense attorney Brandon Delfunt said his client is not a flight risk, and argued Monroy should not be held in jail just because the district attorney’s office indicted him on five additional charges.
“What this really is is the district attorney’s office being upset that he got a bond in the first place,” Delfunt said, calling Monroy “a good candidate for bond.”
After taking the matter under consideration, Tuwanda on Friday set Monroy’s new bond at $150,000. The conditions of his release are the same, she ruled, and he must remain on house arrest and wear an ankle monitor. He was still being held at the Gwinnett jail Friday morning, online records showed.
In a statement, Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said she disagreed with the new judge’s decision to grant bond and vowed to seek justice for the “heinous offense of killing a pregnant teenaged mother and her child.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
