ANDERSON COUNTY – A man convicted of killing his estranged wife and her niece in Feb. 2012 has died while serving time inside an east Texas prison.
Ricardo Jose Prado Jr., 41, died at around 11:45 p.m. on April 1 at a state penitentiary located in Tennessee Colony, TX. He was serving a sentence of life without parole for the crime.
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According to a custodial death report, Prado was found unresponsive in his cell and was taken to the jail infirmary where medical staff pronounced him dead.
His cause of death has not yet been released.
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Background
The crime happened on Feb. 14, 2012. Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said Prado opened fire outside a house in the 7800 block of Mosewood Street at Vernwood.
Rachel Prado, a 28-year-old mother of two, and her 19-year-old niece, Jasmine Rhodes, were killed.
Deputies said Prado ambushed the two after they parked inside the garage of the home. Prado’s two young children were inside the home with their grandmother at the time of the killing. The grandmother called 911. They were not injured.
Investigators said Ricardo Prado has a history of domestic violence against Rachel Prado. Relatives said Rachel Prado feared for her life and tried to get a restraining order against her estranged husband.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said deputies had been called out to the home at least six times in the two months before the murders for a variety of complaints.
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