Calif. Mom Had Bad Feeling Her Daughter Had Been Harmed. She Went to Ex's Home and Found Her Slain

An arrest has been made in connection with the killing of a California woman whose mother found her dead after she "sensed something was wrong," according to ABC7.

Aaron Romo, 36, of Anaheim, was arrested on a murder charge last week, according to a press release from the Anaheim Police Department. He is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Mirelle Mateus, of La Palma.

Authorities did not immediately reveal Mateus' cause of death but do believe she was murdered.

Officers were called the afternoon of March 17 to an Anaheim apartment and found the victim dead inside, police said.

Mateus' mother, Alice Mateus, told ABC7 she had a feeling that something bad had happened to her daughter and went to Mateus' ex-boyfriend's home, where she said she made the horrifying discovery after opening the unlocked front door.

"It was I who found her dead in the bathroom," she said, per the outlet. "It was not the police. The system failed me."

Romo was quickly identified as a suspect and booked at the Anaheim Police Department Detention Facility, where he is being held without bail. It is not immediately clear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.

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Investigators believe Romo has assaulted other women in the past and are asking any other potential victims to come forward. The police department declined to "elaborate on evidence or to discuss possible motives," the release states.

In December, Romo was charged with two felonies — corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and false imprisonment — as well as misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and battery, Fox11 reports, citing court records. He was jailed and posted bail, the outlet reports.

It was not immediately clear if Romo had entered pleas to those charges.

Mateus' sister, Sandy Mateus, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the family with funeral expenses.

The victim was described on the page as a "very special caring generous person with a heart so pure and full of love."

Anyone with information on the homicide case is asked to contact the Anaheim Police Department at 714-321-3669 or the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.