Rosa Ybarra’s relatives described a longtime caregiver whose death with coworker Felix Jimenez Macz has led to a capital murder case.
HOUSTON, Texas — Long before Rosa Linda Ybarra worked in an apartment leasing office, her family said she was known for taking care of other people. The 67-year-old Houston woman had run child care, helped neighborhood families and continued caring for relatives when she and coworker Felix Antonio Jimenez Macz, 47, were killed Sept. 3 at the Park at Woodlake apartments.
The killings have since become the basis of a capital murder case against 53-year-old tenant Derrick Duane Jackson. But the criminal allegations describe only one part of the loss. Ybarra’s family said her death created immediate consequences for an adult son with a disability and a young foster child she hoped to adopt, while friends and relatives remembered a woman whose work and family responsibilities regularly centered on helping others. Public reporting has revealed much less about Jimenez Macz’s life outside the leasing office, leaving his personal history largely private even as his name became central to the same prosecution.
A family fundraiser described Ybarra as a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, foster mother and sister who had deep ties to Houston. Her relatives said she lived for years in the Oak Forest area and graduated from Waltrip High School in 1977. Family members also recalled the visual details by which friends knew her, including her red hair and red lipstick. In interviews cited by Law&Crime, Ybarra’s daughter said she once operated a child care service and transported neighborhood children to school, earning the name “Miss Rosie” among families who relied on her. The fundraiser said her family was seeking help with memorial costs and with support for dependents who had lost their primary caregiver.
Ybarra and Jimenez Macz were working at the Park at Woodlake complex on Ella Lee Lane when they were killed. The first people known publicly to have encountered the aftermath were not investigators. Police said a maintenance worker and a resident who had gone to the office to pay rent found the two employees. Officers were dispatched at about 6:45 p.m. and discovered both victims unresponsive inside the management office. Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced them dead at the scene. Investigators said each had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. At that stage, police did not have a publicly identified suspect and said no one had reported witnessing the attack.
The absence of an eyewitness initially left detectives to build the case from other evidence. Houston police said they did not believe the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide and believed another person had been involved. Detectives began reviewing surveillance video and talking with people who might have information. By the following day, the department said its investigation had identified Jackson as a possible suspect. Officers with the Midwest Patrol and Patrol Support Unit arrested him Sept. 4. Police said Jackson then gave a statement to homicide detectives before he was booked into the Harris County Jail and charged in the 228th Criminal District Court.
Details about a possible reason for the confrontation emerged later in court, not in the department’s first public announcement. Prosecutors said Jackson went to the leasing office because of a disagreement involving a 14-month lease. According to reporting from a subsequent hearing, Jackson said he argued with Jimenez Macz and became angry as the conversation continued. Ybarra made a comment about Jackson having signed the lease, the court account said. Jackson allegedly told investigators that he then “snapped.” Those statements form part of the prosecution’s account. They do not constitute a judicial finding, and the broader terms of the lease disagreement have not been fully described in the public record reviewed for this article.
Prosecutors allege the confrontation turned deadly inside the office. Court reporting said Jackson shot Ybarra and then fired at Jimenez Macz as he tried to flee. Authorities allege Jimenez Macz was shot again and stabbed. Earlier charging information had similarly accused Jackson of shooting Ybarra and shooting and stabbing Jimenez Macz during the same episode. The Houston Police Department’s release was more restrained, saying both victims had multiple gunshot wounds and that Jackson had been charged for his alleged role. The differing levels of detail reflect the progression from an initial homicide investigation to later courtroom allegations rather than separate confirmed versions of events.
Investigators also relied on evidence collected away from the apartment complex. The Houston Chronicle reported that surveillance footage showed a man entering the leasing office around 5:30 p.m. and leaving about 12 minutes later. Prosecutors said Jackson acknowledged he was the person visible on the recording. After the killings, authorities said, he went to a hotel. Police arrested him the next day, and later reporting said investigators recovered a pistol and pocketknife there. The Chronicle also reported that shell casings found in the hotel room were linked by authorities to the shooting. A magistrate order cited by Law&Crime said several pieces of forensic evidence were recovered from Jackson’s motel room.
For Ybarra’s relatives, those investigative details existed beside a more personal chronology. Her granddaughter Saleen Salinas told KHOU, in an interview quoted by Law&Crime, that she was out of town when she learned of the killing. Salinas remembered Ybarra’s final message to her as one of affection and reassurance, with her grandmother saying she would be waiting for her to come home. Family members said Ybarra had spent much of her life in similar roles: helping children, assisting parents who needed child care and supporting members of her own household. They said she was also preparing to adopt a 3-year-old foster child.
Far less verified information is available about Jimenez Macz. Court and police reports identify him as 47 and as an employee of the apartment complex, with prosecutors describing him as one of the workers involved in the lease discussion. The lack of publicly available biographical material should not be mistaken for evidence that his life or loss carried less weight. It means only that reliable sources reviewed for this report have focused primarily on the circumstances of the homicide and on Ybarra’s relatives, who spoke publicly. No similarly detailed family account for Jimenez Macz was located in the material used for this article.
The case remains a prosecution rather than a conviction. Houston police identify Jackson as 53 and say he is charged with capital murder. Some early news reports drawing from court records listed him as 48, but later police and court-appearance coverage used 53. A judge later set Jackson’s bond at $1 million, according to local reporting. The evidence outlined publicly includes surveillance footage, Jackson’s alleged statements and material recovered after his arrest. Prosecutors have presented a sequence of events, but the defense has not been fully aired in the reporting reviewed here, and the allegations have not been resolved by a trial.
For Ybarra’s family, the criminal proceedings continue alongside the practical losses created by her death, including the absence of a caregiver relatives said had supported children and other family members for years. Jimenez Macz’s relatives have remained largely outside the public reporting. Jackson, meanwhile, continues to face a capital murder charge, with no final adjudication reported in the sources reviewed through Oct. 20.
Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.