HOUSTON – A family is fighting for justice after a mother of three was killed the night before Thanksgiving at a north Houston motel.
Alicia Strambler, 34, had multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office. Houston Police found her unresponsive on the bathroom floor at the Moonlight Inn and her husband, 36-year-old Myron Strambler, covered in blood.
“She did not deserve this. Her kids do not deserve this,” her sister Anna Gonzales said outside of a court hearing on Monday.
A Harris County District Court judge increased Myron Strambler’s bond by $50,000, to a total of $300,000, on a murder charge Monday. Prosecutors have filed a motion to have him held without bond based on his criminal history and a hearing on that decision is scheduled for later this week.
“He took her with his bare hands like a monster. He doesn’t need bond,” her other sister Monique San Miguel said.
HPD detectives got called to the Moonlight Inn on Wednesday evening. Myron Strambler allegedly told them he was off his medication and “blacked out” during the beating, according to records. He had blood on his pants, shoes, and shirt.
“He would not leave her alone. She tried and tried and tried. He just wouldn’t let her go,” Gonzales said. “It’s hard to be in a situation as she was, but she tried to help so many people ... She did anything and everything that she could do to help those who were going through what she was going through.”
Myron Strambler is a convicted sex offender who has served prison time. He has nearly 20 years of arrest history in Texas, according to records.
He had been charged at least twice for assaults involving his wife, whose parents at a vigil over the weekend said she started writing a book about domestic violence.
“If she even called anybody, or contacted even her father, he didn’t want that. He wanted everything to be under his control,” her father Andy Rabago said.
They’re now calling on the courts to ensure justice for Alicia.
“The justice system has failed Alicia. Let’s make it right and let’s make sure he does not ever come out,” Gonzales said.