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Braylon Ellis, a Garland resident, and his girlfriend Cristina Rodriguez were sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after the couple was found guilty of the murder of Tommy Brown.
Snapped: Behind Bars season 2 episode 6 titled Cristina Rodriguez will focus on this brutal homicide and will also include an interview with Cristina, who will share her side of the story. The episode will air on October 6, 2024, at 7 pm EST. The synopsis for the same reads:
"Cristina Rodriguez shares her experience watching her then-lover beat her boyfriend to death, and how it felt when he testified against her; a second convicted killer reveals his side of the story with new details."
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As per prison records, Cristina Rodriguez remains incarcerated at T.D.C.J’s Dr Lane Murray Unit, located in Gatesville. Braylon Ellis on the other hand, is behind bars at an Abilene, Texas Prison, serving his life sentence.
Cristina Rodriguez and Braylon Ellis killed Tommy Brown in 2013
As per reports by Oxygen True Crime, on September 5, 2013, Cristina Rodriguez had told Braylon Ellis that she was pregnant with his child. She had also claimed that Tommy Brown had been abusing her physically, after which the two lovers made a plan to kill Brown.
The two sneaked inside Brown’s residence with a spare key. While Rodriguez stole expensive jewelry and other items for the house, Ellis waited to attack Brown upon his arrival. Reportedly, when Brown arrived, Braylon Ellis attacked and killed him with the lid of a toilet pot and later wrapped his head in a bag to choke him.
On September 7, 2013, Tommy Brown’s sister Andrea found him brutally beaten up, and dead inside his home. The victim had his hands tied behind his back and the cause of death was revealed as asphyxiation and death due to blunt force injury. Several items were missing from Brown’s home including his wallet, cards, his Toyota pickup truck, and more.
How was Tommy Brown related to Cristina Rodriguez?
Reportedly, Brown, a Texas resident started dating Connie Moreno in 2004, however, their relationship was unstable but the two didn’t separate for years. Brown met Rodriguez while he was dating Moreno. In 2013, when Brown and Moreno wanted to have a baby, they chose Cristina as a surrogate.
In 2013, Rodriguez told Brown that she was pregnant. Later that year, Brown and Moreno split once more, after which Brown was found dead, as reported by Oxygen True Crime.
Leads on this case
The investigators initially found 2 footprints from the crime scene, which opened the possibility of 2 killers. In the coming days, more leads and evidence on the case were discovered in Brown’s missing Toyota, which was recovered after his murder. Inside the car, there was a bus ticket with Cristina’s name on it. More bloodied items and a part of the murder weapon were also found inside the car.
When the authorities tracked the victim’s missing phone, they found both the killers after which they were arrested in 2010. Post-arrest, it was revealed that Cristina was never pregnant.
Ellis’s DNA was found on the murder weapon, a toilet lid, which linked him straight to this homicide, following which he was sentenced to life in 2017 with the possibility of parole. Rodriguez was also sentenced to life with murder charges, without chances of parole.
Watch Snapped: Behind Bars season 2 episode 6 to learn what Cristina Rodriguez has to say about this homicide.
