Texas City man sentenced to probation for hiding woman's body in car trunk

GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A Texas City man was sentenced to probation after he hid a woman's body in the trunk of her car, according to the Galveston County District Attorney's Office.

On Tuesday, Christopher Lee Maldonado, who was accused of a second-degree felony, was indicted for tampering with a corpse for concealing the body of Angela Mitchell in the trunk of her car.

The Galveston County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Maldonado was a former jailer and relieved of duty after being arrested and charged with assault by Texas City police in 2019.

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In 2022, Mitchell's decomposing body was discovered in Texas City in the trunk of her own vehicle. Her friends started to worry when she did not come to pick up her baby boy.

Her cousin used the Find My Friends app to track Mitchell's iPhone to its last known ping, which was near Maldonado's home.

On May 11, 2022, Texas City police found Mitchell's body on 4th Avenue in Texas City.

According to Texas City police, Mitchell was a sex worker whose last known employment was on May 5, 2022, at Maldonado's home in Lago Mar.

Because of the decomposition, the medical examiner was unable to identify the cause of death. Nonetheless, they ruled out overdose and death from natural causes. The cause of Mitchell's death is still unknown.

Maldonado's trial began on Feb. 26. Judge Jeth Jones ordered Maldonado to serve 120 days in jail followed by 10 years of probation.