{"id":1017,"date":"2026-06-10T19:42:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1017"},"modified":"2026-06-10T19:42:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:42:57","slug":"woman-used-social-media-to-catch-man-who-killed-her-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1017","title":{"rendered":"Woman used social media to catch man who killed her mom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Kiany DeJesus was just 11 years old when her mother was killed by her ex-boyfriend in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/p>\n

Read more Police identify suspect in Ohio festival shooting that wounded 12<\/a><\/p>\n

In court Tuesday, the daughter watched him get sentenced to decades in prison for the 2014 killing \u2014 after she used social media to track him down in Mexico, where he had started a new family.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Emilia Ignacio was killed in April 2014 at the hands of Juan Miguel Roman-Balderas.<\/p>\n

Her daughter delivered a tearful victim impact statement describing all that she lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that if I didn\u2019t get it out, I would probably regret it, so I\u2019m glad that I did this and I\u2019m glad that he got to hear it from my words too. It makes me really happy to finally get to close all of this,\u201d she told News4.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say Roman-Balderas took Ignacio to Red Lobster for dinner, stabbed her 27 times and took off to Mexico using a one-way ticket he bought before the killing. Her body was found in her car.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Roman-Balderas had been hiding out in Mexico for over a decade. He started a new family, leaving behind the 1-year-old son he and Ignacio shared.<\/p>\n

DeJesus used social media to find him. She credits the Instagram account Crime Time Tea Time with giving the case the attention it needed, leading to Roman-Balderas\u2019 arrest.<\/p>\n

Read more Referee barred from entering U.S. for World Cup receives a hero\u2019s welcome in Somalia<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWithout her, we wouldn\u2019t have been able to get the ball rolling at all. We tried. We pushed a lot, and she was the only person to respond to us, and as soon as we started, you know, connecting with her, everything just one by one by one started falling into order,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Roman-Balderas was abusive to DeJesus and her mom, the daughter said. She told the judge he burned her hand on the stove when she took a few quarters as a child and even abused her dog. DeJesus hadn\u2019t seen him since she was a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like he\u2019s a ghost, almost. Like he\u2019s not even real,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Roman-Balderas pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Roman-Balderas\u2019 attorney argued he\u2019s a changed man, took responsibility for the crime and had no other record, asking for just 20 years. Roman-Balderas himself made no statement at the sentencing hearing in Upper Marlboro.<\/p>\n

The judge sentenced Roman-Balderas to the maximum allowed under a plea agreement, saying in part that he tortured Ignacio.<\/p>\n

DeJesus said she\u2019s considering becoming a lawyer or detective now that her mother\u2019s killer has been brought to justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judge herself telling me that she was really proud of me \u2014 it made me really happy. It made me feel like all of the work that I did was, you know, for something good to finally come out of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more Ex-NBA player Terry Rozier pleads not guilty to new charges in alleged gambling scheme<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kiany DeJesus was just 11 years old when her mother was killed by her ex-boyfriend in Greenbelt, Maryland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWoman used social media to catch man who killed her mom - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1017\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Woman used social media to catch man who killed her mom - Trusted Moving Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kiany DeJesus was just 11 years old when her mother was killed by her ex-boyfriend in Greenbelt, Maryland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1017\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Trusted Moving Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T19:42:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=1017#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=1017\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98cd83efb686ecde03e082abca618eaa\"},\"headline\":\"Woman used social media to catch man who killed her mom\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T19:42:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=1017\"},\"wordCount\":517,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=1017#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/06a04ec57c8ffbfddef2c601638c03a8.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"U.S. news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=1017#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=1017\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=1017\",\"name\":\"Woman used social media to catch man who killed her mom - 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