Suspect arrested as family mourns beloved grandmother fatally attacked just before entering her home​on April 2, 2025 at 3:20 am

ARLINGTON, Texas — Arlington police arrested a 23-year-old man after he allegedly attacked a woman, stole a car and injured a dog in a hit-and-run crash, police said. 

Officers responded to reports of shots fired around 11:58 p.m. on March 31 to an apartment complex in the 2600 block of Whisper Meadow Lane, Arlington police said in a news release. Police found a 63-year-old woman lying unresponsive in a breezeway, the release stated. 

The victim was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said. A witness told police he saw a man attacking the woman with a sharp object and fired a shot at the ground, causing the suspect to run away, the release stated. 

The victim’s family confirmed to WFAA that she was 63-year-old Erma Adeyemo, a grandmother and great-grandmother. 

“Everyone just adored her,” Kushana Allen, Adeyemo’s daughter, said in an interview with WFAA. “She just had a big, big, big heart and she loved people. She made a life of helping people.” 

According to Allen, Adeyemo, who went by “Mama Erma,” taught special needs students with Arlington ISD for more than 20 years before she retired from teaching. Adeyemo worked with patients undergoing therapy at a cancer center in North Texas. She also led a food pantry through her church, Allen said. 

Allen told WFAA her mother was arriving at her apartment of 20 years after helping a friend move. As she walked to her unit from her vehicle, the suspect attacked her, Allen said. Adeyemo was stabbed repeatedly and died in the hospital, according to Allen. 

“I can’t even imagine what that was like for her. It breaks my heart to know that that happened to my mother in that way,” Adeyemo said. “I never thought in a million years that I would have to go home and have a conversation with my son and tell him that his ‘Gigi’ is not here anymore.”

Police learned the Tarrant County Community Supervision and Corrections Department received an ankle monitor tampering alert from a person on probation who matched the description of the suspect. Police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Jacob Arriaga Guerrero. GPS data placed him at the crime scene at the time of the attack, police said. 

While working to find Arriaga Guerrero on Tuesday, Arlington police received a 911 call about a hit-and-run that occurred at the intersection of Walnut Hill Circle and Burney Road, the release stated. The caller said an SUV hit a pedestrian walking a dog and collided with another vehicle before driving off. 

Police located the SUV and learned it was reported stolen, officials said. Police identified the driver as Arriaga Guerrero and took him into custody. 

The release stated that the pedestrian and other driver involved in the crash were not seriously injured. The dog’s leg was injured in the crash, police said. 

Arriaga Guerrero was charged with one count of collision involving injury, one count of animal cruelty, and one count of theft of a motor vehicle in connection to the hit-and-run.

According to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Arriaga Guerrero was on probation, and they charged him with Aggravated robbery, tampering with physical evidence, evading in a vehicle, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and unlawful carrying of a weapon. 

“He shouldn’t have even been out to hurt anybody. This could’ve been avoided,” Allen said.  “I’m hurt, but I’m angry, and I feel like the system failed my mother.”

Arlington police charged him with one count of aggravated assault in connection with the 63-year-old’s death. Charges may be upgraded pending the cause of death ruling from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner. 

“I don’t have an answer for where we go from here. I just know that by the grace of God, we will get through it,” Allen said.