GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. (Court TV) — The 20-year-old man accused of killing the pregnant teenage mother of his unborn child appeared in front of a judge in a packed room for the first time since his arrest on July 17.
Jesus Monroy sits next to his attorney, Brandon Delfunt, at a probable cause hearing for the 20-year-old who was charged in the death of 16-year-old Mia Campos and their unborn baby son, at the Georgia Magistrate Court in Gwinnett County on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Court TV)
Jesus Monroy, 20, is facing charges of malice murder, felony murder, feticide, and aggravated assault in the death of Mia Campos. Mia, 16, was roughly seven months pregnant with her unborn son, Sebastian, when police believe she was lured to the entrance of her neighborhood and killed by asphyxiation.
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Three days before his arrest, Monroy and Mia’s father, Edward Campos, used a cellphone tracking app to find her lifeless body in the woods, less than half of a mile from the Campos’ Loganville, Georgia home.
At the Aug. 23 preliminary hearing, Mia’s family sat in a packed room at the Georgia Magistrate Court. Judge Kristine Blum listened to evidence to determine whether there was enough probable cause to continue to hold the defendant in custody.
Detective Arriaza with the Gwinnett County Police Department Homicide Unit said that police used cellphone data extracted from Monroy’s phone to place him in the same area and time frame as when they believe Mia was killed, between 10:19 and 10:30 p.m. on July 14.
Photos provided by Mia Campos’ family show the happy pregnant teen. Photos that were taken shortly before she was killed in July 2024. (Campos Family via Court TV)
Additionally, the officer added that Monroy, who had initially told police he had not had contact with Mia on the day of her disappearance, found deleted text messages on both Monroy’s and Mia’s phones.
Monroy’s court-appointed attorney, Brandon Delfunt, politely grilled the officer about the evidence Gwinnett County PD collected, suggesting that beyond cellphone data and witness statements from Mia’s family and friends, there was little evidence to prove his client was actually with Mia the night she was killed.
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The prosecutor, Katie Loraine Fite-Magyar, further argued that the evidence showed Monroy lured Mia outside of the neighborhood where he knew there were no cameras, made her delete the text messages of the two of them meeting up, then pretended to look for her afterward and message her as if he didn’t know where she was.
Despite a lengthy cross-examination, the judge ruled that there was enough evidence based on GPS coordinates and meet-up text messages for a trial to move forward and for Monroy to remain in custody. A future bond hearing had already been scheduled for Aug. 28.
