A Texas man accused of killing his wife with a clothing iron was found at his home with blood all over his clothes after abandoning her four dogs on the highway.
Houston police were called to the home of Chance Chavez, 34, who was found with blood on his arms, legs and clothing around 7:30am on Wednesday. He was standing in the doorway with his hands up, police said.
After officers secured Chavez in a squad car, they searched the home and found Kristen Chavez, 32, unresponsive in a bedroom.
Paramedics pronounced his wife of seven years dead at the scene. Investigators later determined that she died from blunt force trauma.
‘Even though it was not a good situation, [she was] staying in it, hoping that things will change,’ Kristen’s mother Laura Bell told FOX 26.
‘We’re hoping that he remains in jail until the trial and throughout the trial for him to be held accountable for what he’s done,’ she added.
Kristen’s family have claimed that after her death, Chavez her four dogs and dumped them on the Katy Freeway, a section of Interstate-10 that runs through the city of Houston.
‘She doesn’t have any children, so these dogs are her babies,’ said Julia Green, Kristen’s sister.
Kristen Chavez, 32, was found dead in the bedroom of the home she shared with her husband Chance Chavez, 34
Chance Chavez, 34, has been charged with murder after police found her body inside the Houston home they shared together
Kristen’s dog Peaches was among the four dogs Chavez allegedly dumped on the side of the Katy Freeway. Peaches is the only dog that hasn’t been found
Bell told KPRC that Kristen loved them ‘like her children’ and said they are her ‘granddogs.’
All but one of Kristen’s dogs, a Dachshund named Peaches, has been found and rescued.
Her family has asked the community for help in locating Peaches, a call that has been heeded by many residents who have been spreading the word on social media.
‘My family and I want to thank each and everyone for the support, compassion, and love we have received these past few days,’ Bell wrote Saturday on Facebook.
Bell added that her family wasn’t aware of the fashion in which Kristen was killed until the news media reported that an iron was the murder weapon.
‘I did need to mention that my children and I didn’t receive details of the weapons used to commit Kristen’s murder,’ she wrote.
‘We were devastated to hear about one particular one used was on the news tonight and very descriptive. It crushed us to hear. The brutality and suffering my daughter endured was unimaginable.’
She also shared a petition demanding that Chavez’s bond be set higher so he remains in jail as he awaits trial.
Kristen’s family described her as a strong, loving woman who had dreams of being an attorney in the future (Pictured from L-R: Brother Devin Cervantes, mother Laura Bell and sister Julia Green)
Devin Cervantes, Kristen’s brother, said she saw the good in people ‘even though they tried to take advantage of that’
A judge originally set his bond at $500,000 before cutting it in half to $250,000.
Kristen worked as a paralegal and founded the paralegal consulting firm Nirvana Legal Solutions in February 2024, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Her family described her as a strong, loving woman who had dreams of being an attorney in the future.
‘She was very logical. She was the voice of reason. She was headstrong in a positive way,’ Bell said.
Devin Cervantes, Kristen’s brother, said she saw the good in people ‘even though they tried to take advantage of that.’
‘She was my ride or die. She was my goofy twin. She always had a passion for others, helping others,’ Cervantes said.
If convicted of Kristen’s murder, Chavez faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty. He is due back in court on Monday.
