Terrified' ex-wife of former cop got restraining order before he allegedly k!lled her and his teen girlfriend
Amber Rodriguez was "terrified" in the weeks before she died and had been granted an order of protection against Elias Huizar, her ex-husband, who was accused of fatally shooting her outside the elementary school where she worked on the day his teenage girlfriend was found dead in Washington state.
Rodriguez filed for divorce from Huizar in December 2020, Tara Symons told NBC News. Symons was appointed as the guardian ad litem in the divorce proceedings to handle custody issues involving their children.
Rodriguez was killed outside William Wiley Elementary School in West Richland on Monday, a little over a year after her divorce was finalized on April 7, 2023, Symons said.
Court documents say a gunman wearing black clothing and a black hat shot Rodriguez, 31, as classes were being let out shortly before 3:30 p.m.
The pair's 9-year-old son witnessed the killing, the court filing says. They have one other child together.
Later that day, police found the body of Angelica Santos, 17, whom police described as Huizar's "girlfriend."
'She was terrified'
Police said at a news conference Wednesday that they did not know of a motive for the slaying of Rodriguez but that there "were some domestic matters that were pending in court."
Symons said Rodriguez had "safety concerns" throughout her divorce and had recently been granted an order of protection for one year.
"She was terrified. She was terrified," said Symons, who last spoke to Rodriguez a few weeks ago.
According to Symons, Rodriguez had sought a protection order against her ex-husband, but it was denied. After Symons connected her with a local attorney, the order was granted.
Rodriguez, however, still had concerns, Symons said.
"She knew how he was and that it was just paper," she said.
Because of her fears, Symons said, Rodriguez began working at William Wiley Elementary School so she could keep an eye on her son.
It's not clear whether Rodriguez had expressed her concerns to the school. A district spokesperson said she began working there in September 2022 as a paraeducator.
"Our district has suffered a profound loss in the passing of Amber Rodriguez, a remarkable paraeducator," the district said in a statement. "Our deepest condolences go out to Amber’s family during this difficult time."
This poor family. … They tried everything to stay safe from him. And so many systems failed this family," she said, crying.
At the time of the killing, Huizar was under conditional freedom after he was accused of third-degree rape of a child and second-degree rape, Benton County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger said.
According to court filings, two teenagers went to police in early February after a 17-year-old girl alleged to officers that she woke up to Huizar’s performing oral sex on her 16-year-old friend, who had "passed out" after the three had been drinking alcohol.
The filing alleged that Huizar, a former officer with the Yakima Police Department in Washington, and the 17-year-old "have a child in common" and that they met while he was employed as a resource officer at her middle school.
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