Dallas, TX: Ex-boyfriend charged in slaying of woman found at southeast Dallas motel

12:00 AM CST on Thursday, December 3, 2009

By STEVE THOMPSON / The Dallas Morning News
stevethompson@dallasnews.com
A woman was found slain Wednesday at a southeast Dallas motel, and her former boyfriend has been charged with the murder, police said.

Zulma Salmeron, 35, was found about 5:30 a.m. on the floor of a room at the Luxury Inn Motel in the 7100 block of C.F. Hawn Freeway. Police said she suffered homicidal violence but declined to be more specific.

Later in the morning, police arrested 46-year-old Jose Gonzalez on a murder charge. He and Salmeron used to date, police said.

"We don't know why it escalated at this point," said homicide Sgt. Bruce McDonald. "We don't really know what happened."

Police say Gonzalez left Salmeron's 2-year-old grandson with one of his relatives Tuesday. That relative took the child to a Dallas police station.

The relative said he'd last heard from Salmeron early Tuesday afternoon, according to a police report. He said she'd been moving things out of one residence and into a new one.

Officers spoke with a witness who said Gonzalez told him that he'd killed a woman earlier, the report says. Police said family members told them Salmeron had been planning to meet Gonzalez on Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon, as officers began searching for Salmeron, who was then considered an endangered missing person, Gonzalez turned up in a car crash along C.F. Hawn Freeway at St. Augustine Road.

Dallas County sheriff's deputies discovered him trapped in a car that had struck a concrete barrier. Firefighters extricated him, and he was taken to a hospital. Deputies noticed he had injuries that did not appear consistent with the crash.

Police are investigating whether Gonzalez lost control of the car or tried to kill himself.

"His injuries are not that serious," McDonald said. He was expected to be taken to the Dallas County jail when released from the hospital.

"We're just thankful that this 2-year-old is OK right now," McDonald said. The boy's mother was in Houston at the time of the murder. Police turned him over to Child Protective Services.