A local woman has recently been found dead in her Raleigh apartment, and the death is being investigated as a homicide. This woman’s name is Christina Maria Matos. Matos had just turned twenty years old on April 2 just a day before her murder. She had been taking fall classes at Wake Tech and was living in an apartment near the North Carolina State University campus. 

   Friends and family initially began being suspicious that something was wrong when Matos did not show up to her own birthday party on Saturday night and failed to respond to texts and calls. Her parents, Yolanda and Gerardo Matos, and her brother, Abraham Matos, drove from their home in Clayton, NC to her Signature 1505 apartment on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, NC.

   An unnamed person made the first call to authorities on Sunday, April 4, concerning Matos’ disappearance, just moments before her family and others began to call as well. 

   “I have a concern about a missing person,” the 911 caller said. “I was really curious if her family called in about it. I have her address, I know where she was last seen. It was on Friday” the News and Observer reported. 

   After the initial 911 call, Abraham Matos relayed to the News and Observer that he told police that “he lost track of how long he and his parents waited for his sister at the apartment.” Family and friends were devastated to hear of her death and were shocked that such a horrible event took place right after such a joyful one. Matos’ family waited until Tuesday to hear details of her death, including the cause of death and suspects. It was ruled that Christina Matos’ death was due to a gunshot wound. 

   Matos’ twenty-year-old roommate, Eric Gael Hernandez-Mendez, has been taken into custody and is being charged for her murder. Her brother and two friends confirmed their connection. As of now, no motive has been discovered or released. On Wednesday night, a memorial with family and friends was held for Matos, with another the following Thursday night. 

   At one of the memorials, friend Sydney Richardson told CBS17 that “She was so funny and she loved her friends. She would do anything for anyone, she just had the highest heart. Genuine.” 

   The remembrance of Christina Maria Matos continues through balloons and notes left at her apartment complex and through the message spread by her tragic death. Many other college students in the area fear for their safety as Matos’ death reminds them that it is a dangerous and unpredictable world, especially for young women such as Matos.