Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. To keep creating
new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help
the Murderpedia project stay alive. We have many
plans and enthusiasm
to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really
need your help for this. Thank you very much in advance.
Teresa
ALVAREZ
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Robbery
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: November 10, 2011
Date of arrest:
May 2012
Date of birth: 1988
Victim profile:
Margaret Theut, 71
Method of murder: ????
Location: Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Status:
Sentenced to life in prison without parole
on December 11, 2013
Detroit woman sentenced to
life for murder of the childhood babysitter
By Gus Burns - Mlive.com
December 12, 2013
Seventy-one-year-old Margaret
Theut of Detroit disappeared in November 2011. A mushroom-hunter found
her decomposed body in a wooded area of Rouge Park the following May.
A jury found Teresa Alvarez, 25,
guilty of first-degree murder and on Thursday Wayne County Circuit
Judge Mark T. Slavens sentenced her to life in prison.
Alvarez and her brother, whom
Theut frequently babysat, came from an unstable home and were adopted
separately, Alvarez by her great-aunt, and her brother, who is now in
prison, by Theut, CBS Detroit reported in April.
Alvarez had a job as a Taco Bell
manager but was accused and convicted of embezzling in 2011. According
to CBS Detroit, she was sentenced to 18 months probation and proceeded
to hatch a plot to kill Theut and steal her savings.
Life, No Parole For Woman Who
Killed Her Rescuer
Detroit.CBSlocal.com
December 13, 2013
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A 25-year-old
woman has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing
a 71-year-old Detroit woman who rescued her from homelessness as a
child.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Mark
Slavens on Thursday gave Teresa Alvarez the mandatory penalty for
first-degree murder.
Authorities say Alvarez killed
Margaret Theut 17 years after she rescued the then 8-year-old girl and
her brother from homelessness.
Authorities say the killing was
part of a plan to steal thousands of dollars Theut had saved to donate
to charity. Alvarez dumped Theut’s body on the outskirts of the same
park where as a child, she once huddled with her brother and
grandparents, police say.
According to police, Alvarez had
planned the killing for weeks.
“(Alvarez) told her friends that
Margaret killed herself by overdosing on pills,” Detroit police
homicide investigator Lance Sullivan told The Detroit News. “Then she
got dressed up and told everyone she was going to the fake funeral.”
Theut was a retired General
Motors secretary who lived for years in a neighborhood two blocks from
sprawling Rouge Park. Her next-door neighbor would sometimes leave her
two kids, Alvarez and her older brother, Jesus, in Theut’s care.
When the neighbor died of breast
cancer, the maternal grandparents were awarded custody, said Janet
Jenkins, the children’s great-aunt. “Things never really were stable
with them,” Jenkins said. “They’d get an apartment and lose it and end
up living in the park again.”
Theut and Jenkins, who lived five
blocks from each other, decided to adopt the kids in 1996. Jenkins was
awarded custody of Alvarez, and Theut adopted her brother. While Theut
had problems with her adopted son – Jenkins said he went to prison on
a larceny conviction – Alvarez graduated from high school and became a
manager at a Taco Bell.
But Alvarez was convicted in 2011
of embezzling nearly $2,000 from the restaurant and was given 18
months of probation. While on probation, Alvarez came up with the plan
to kill Theut and clean out her bank account, police say.
Theut was reported missing in
November 2011, but there were no breaks in the case until May 2012,
when a woman hunting for mushrooms near the Rouge River stumbled upon
what appeared to be human bones wrapped in a bathrobe and blankets.
Dental records showed the remains
belonged to Theut.
Police Say Detroit Woman
Killed Her 71-Year-Old Benefactor
Detroit.CBSlocal.com
April 22, 2013
DETROIT (AP) – A woman’s kindness
ended up getting her killed, Detroit police say.
Margaret Theut was slain 17 years
after she rescued an 8-year-old Teresa Alvarez and her brother from
homelessness.
Alvarez, now 25, is charged with
killing her 71-year-old benefactor as part of a plan to steal
thousands of dollars Theut had saved to donate to charity. Alvarez
dumped Theut’s body on the outskirts of the same park where as a child
she once huddled with her brother and grandparents, police say.
A probable cause hearing will be
held May 14 in Wayne County Circuit Court for Alvarez, who is in
prison on a probation violation after being convicted in 2011 of
stealing from the Taco Bell restaurant she managed.
Alvarez planned for weeks to kill
Theut, police allege.
“(Alvarez) told her friends that
Margaret killed herself by overdosing on pills,” Detroit police
homicide investigator Lance Sullivan told The Detroit News. “Then she
got dressed up and told everyone she was going to the fake funeral.”
Defense attorney James Schlaff
declined to comment.
Theut was a retired General
Motors secretary who lived for years in a neighborhood two blocks from
sprawling Rouge Park. Her next-door neighbor would sometimes leave her
two kids, Alvarez and her older brother, Jesus, in Theut’s care.
When the neighbor died of breast
cancer, the maternal grandparents were awarded custody, said Janet
Jenkins, the children’s great-aunt.
“Things never really were stable
with them,” Jenkins said. “They’d get an apartment and lose it and end
up living in the park again.”
Theut and Jenkins, who lived five
blocks from each other, decided to adopt the kids in 1996. Jenkins was
awarded custody of Alvarez, and Theut adopted her brother.
While Theut had problems with her
adopted son – Jenkins said he went to prison on a larceny conviction –
Alvarez graduated from high school and became a manager at a Taco
Bell.
But Alvarez was convicted in 2011
of embezzling nearly $2,000 from the restaurant and was given 18
months of probation.
While on probation, Alvarez came
up with the plan to kill Theut and clean out her bank account, police
say.
Theut was reported missing in
November 2011, but there were no breaks in the case until May 2012,
when a woman hunting for mushrooms near the Rouge River stumbled upon
what appeared to be human bones wrapped in a bathrobe and blankets.
Dental records showed the remains
belonged to Theut.
71-Year-Old Detroit Woman Goes
Missing
MyFoxDetroit.com
December 3, 2011
An elderly woman has been missing
for nearly a week. Her neighbor fears she has been killed. Her car has
been located, but there is no sign of her.
"I keep praying for strength to
go on," said Theresa, who wanted us to conceal her identity.
She is the one who first realized
something wasn't quite right. She couldn't get a hold of her dear
friend and neighbor -- 71-year-old Margaret Theut, who lives on Patton
Street in Detroit.
"I got suspicious. I started to
get the neighbors involved," Theresa said.
There were a few red flags that
made neighbors think something was wrong. First, Theut's gate was
unlocked and wide open. The car was gone.
Also, she didn't show up for a
planned lunch date that Monday.
"He TV was on. I walked over to
her house. I knocked on the window, knocked on the door, no answer.
Dog's in the house all by itself. She'd never leave her dog home
alone," Theresa explained.
Friends are now taking care of
her house and her dog because Theut didn't have any blood relatives.
They say she was adopted and years ago adopted a son, who is now in
prison.
Theresa first reported Theut's
disappearance to police and has been on the case ever since.
A few days later it was Theresa
who located Theut's tan Impala eight blocks away on Vaughan near
Tireman in the possession of the missing woman's son's sister's
boyfriend. She said her immediate thought was "foul play."
Police impounded the vehicle and
are investigating, but if you ask her friend, not hard enough. It's
been nearly a week since Theut went missing and she can't help but
suspect the worst.
"Right now, I don't think she's
with us anymore. I think she's in a better place. I think she's with
the Lord," said Theresa.
If you have any information,
you're asked to contact police.
