<\/p>\n
Talia Sanchez, 26, participated in JROTC, band and wrestling in high school, and had aspirations of enrolling in a nursing program. Her whole body lit up when she smiled, her aunt said, and she absolutely adored her 7-month-old son, Levi.<\/p>\n
Family photos courtesy of GoFundMe<\/p>\n
Talia Sanchez was \u201cbougie,\u201d her aunt Teresa Lovitt said.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old worked for Louis Vuitton and loved to have her hair and nails done, but also didn\u2019t care about breaking a nail if it was the result of her active lifestyle. She participated in JROTC, band and wrestling in high school, and had aspirations of enrolling in a nursing program.<\/p>\n
Talia\u2019s whole body lit up when she smiled, Lovitt said, and she absolutely adored her 7-month-old son, Levi.<\/p>\n
Sanchez didn\u2019t want Levi to grow up in a broken home, so she remained in a relationship with the boy\u2019s father, 27-year-old Elijah Jordan Jacobo<\/a>, even after Jacobo began hitting her last November, Lovitt said. According to Tarrant County court records, Jacobo was charged with assault at that time and the case was pending.<\/p>\n Last week, a welfare check ended with police finding Sanchez dead<\/a> in her south Fort Worth apartment on Feb. 11. Two days later, Jacobo was arrested in El Paso<\/a> on suspicion of murder in the death of his child\u2019s mother, Fort Worth police said.<\/p>\n Results of an autopsy are pending to determine her cause of death. Fort Worth police haven\u2019t told Sanchez\u2019s family many details about the investigation, Lovitt said, but the family last heard from her on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 8. According to the family, Elijah called Talia\u2019s mother, Venus Sanchez, to tell her that they had been in a \u201cpretty nasty fight,\u201d and Venus told him to take the baby and \u201cget separate\u201d from Talia.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have our suspicions that he probably killed her then, but we don\u2019t know for sure yet,\u201d Lovitt said. \u201cWe definitely didn\u2019t hear from her again.\u201d<\/p>\n Venus began noticing some irregularities at that point, Lovitt said. She had access to Talia\u2019s location through a tracking app, and Talia\u2019s movements weren\u2019t lining up with what Venus knew her daughter\u2019s schedule was. Levi\u2019s daycare called Venus on Feb. 11 to ask if the baby was sick because he hadn\u2019t been seen in a few days, and Talia\u2019s job also called to say she had no-showed.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when the Sanchez family called the police for the welfare check, and \u201cthat\u2019s how we got here,\u201d Lovitt said.<\/p>\n When police entered Talia\u2019s apartment, baby Levi was nowhere to be found, Lovitt said. The child was later found in New Mexico with Jacobo\u2019s family, who didn\u2019t appear to know anything about what was going on in Fort Worth, Lovitt said. Talia\u2019s parents have since taken custody of Levi.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine that she was actually scared of Elijah,\u201d Lovitt said of her niece. \u201cI don\u2019t think she had the kind of experience with the world, that she would ever think she was in real danger.\u201d<\/p>\n Lovitt and all of her sisters have had firsthand experience with domestic violence, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe told her then, and we\u2019ll tell anybody: he\u2019s not going to change,\u201d Lovitt said. \u201cIf he put his hands on you once, he\u2019s going to do it again. You need to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n Talia\u2019s parents have had a photo of her enlarged to hang in their home, and when the photo was brought to Venus, she was holding Levi.<\/p>\n \u201cHe lunged forward to grab that picture,\u201d Lovitt said. \u201cHe\u2019s missing his mama. I don\u2019t know what we\u2019re gonna do \u2014 that\u2019s a hole that can\u2019t be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n A GoFundMe for Sanchez\u2019s family<\/a> had raised just over $19,000 of its $27,500 goal on Tuesday.<\/p>\n If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence and needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n