Jennifer Delgado was eight years old when she was murdered more than three decades ago. She was attacked while helping her mother do laundry at a laundromat in San Antonio, Texas, and the person responsible for her death has yet to be brought to justice.
On the night of June 6, 1988, Jennifer, a student at Westwood Terrace Elementary School, had accompanied her then-25-year-old mother, Melida Delgado, to a laundromat in the 100 block of Westoak Road to help her wash clothes.
Her father stayed behind at their home across the street, according to KENS 5.
At around 8 p.m., Melida and her daughter were alone when a Caucasian or Hispanic male in his late teens or early 20s entered the coin-operated laundry.
The man, who was clad in a flower-print shirt, walked to the vending machine to purchase a soda. He inserted his money, but the machine seemingly malfunctioned as it shortchanged him.
He became irate and began kicking the machine.
KSAT reported that he succeedingly pulled out a knife and stabbed Jennifer once in the abdomen before stabbing her mother in the left shoulder.
With her hands cradling her stomach, Jennifer ran across the street to her home. Her mother ran behind her, screaming and yelling.
When a neighbor heard the commotion, she went outside to see what was going on. That’s when Melida asked her to go get her husband.
Before the neighbor could oblige, she told the media that she saw Jennifer collapse in her front yard, near a tree.
Jennifer’s father subsequently ran outside. When he realized his wife and daughter were injured, he immediately called 911 for help.
By the time emergency first responders arrived on the scene, witnesses stated that the suspect had already fled in a silver, two-door Honda that was driven by another individual, according to officials with the San Antonio Police Department.
Paramedics transported Jennifer and Melida to Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center for treatment. Melida survived the attack, but Jennifer succumbed to her injuries at 11 p.m. that same day.
Jennifer was later buried at Cotulla East Cemetery in La Salle County, Texas.
In 2001, some of Jennifer’s elementary school classmates convened for a “small vigil to commemorate the 13th anniversary of her death,” said a classmate.
It was held at the location of the attack, which was a laundromat at the time, but it is now a bank.
“Thirty-one years later [SIC], I still think about her and sad how the killer has never been caught,” according to a Facebook post.
Police Detective John Lopez told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1988 that they “don’t have any motive. We don’t have any reason for it. We don’t have anything.”
Anyone with information regarding the unsolved murder of Jennifer Delgado is encouraged to contact the San Antonio Police Department’s Homicide Unit at (210) 207-7635 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP (7867).