Elias Huizar: Ex-cop accused of killing ex-wife and GF worked as substitute teacher in Richland School District despite criminal past

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

RICHLAND, OREGON: A former Yakima police officer, who was accused of murdering his ex-wife and 17-year-old girlfriend, worked for the Richland School District despite having a history of inappropriate behavior toward underage female students. 

Elias Huizar, 39, is said to have fatally shot his ex-wife, Amber Marie Rodriguez, 31, on Monday, April 22, outside Wiley Elementary School, where she was employed as a paraeducator, in the presence of their nine-year-old son.

When a search warrant was issued at his home, authorities found another victim, identified as Angelica Santos, Elias' 17-year-old live-in girlfriend. She was also the mother of Roman Huizar, 1, whom Elias abducted. 

Previously, MEAWW reported that Elias fatally shot himself in the head following a high-speed police chase on Tuesday. His one-year-old son was safely recovered and is now in the custody of Oregon officials. 

Elias Huizar joined the Yakima Police Department in June 2013

The Richland School District shared a timeline of Elias' involvement with the district.

According to his application to the Richland School District, he attended Yakima Valley Community College from 2004 to 2006 and then transferred to Dickinson State University in North Dakota.

In 2008, The Dickinson Press reported that Elias, a nationally ranked wrestler who attended Dickinson State University in North Dakota, faced two arrests during his senior year.

Elias was accused of threatening people with a knife during a campus altercation in September. However, the charges were dismissed in November.

Subsequently, Elias, his brother, Ricardo Huizar, and his friend, Steven Sanchez, were arrested and charged with criminal trespass related to a burglary.

While charges against Elias were dropped, he was barred from competing for the remainder of the wrestling season. He graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science.

After returning to Yakima Valley, he became a police officer and volunteered as a wrestling coach. He joined the Yakima Police Department in June 2013.

Elias Huizar engaged in inappropriate relationships with minors while working at Washington Hills Middle School

Elias completed the Basic Academy on November 13, 2014, and formally became an officer in December.

After three and a half years, the YPD assigned Elias to serve as a school resource officer (SRO) at Washington Hills Middle School. SROs are responsible for patrolling schools to ensure the safety of students, staff, and visitors and to deter criminal activity, as stated on the Yakima Police Department website.

His tenure as an SRO began on August 31, 2018, as per Tumbleweird.

During his time in this role, Elias allegedly engaged in inappropriate relationships with at least two minors, one of which continued after he left the YPD, according to Yakima Police Chief Mathew Murry.

It was widely known at the school that there were suspicions regarding Elias and a 13-year-old student. Notably, the teenager was residing in Yakima at the time and was open about the situation on social media, according to the Tri-City Herald. 

Murray, who assumed the role of police chief in Yakima in April 2019 after relocating from Colorado, was promptly informed of the allegations against Elias. He stated that two sex crime investigators from the Office of the Washington Attorney General were brought in to examine the claims.

In a recent phone interview from March 15, Murray mentioned that the investigators found no evidence to support the allegations. According to him, a family member of the 13-year-old stated that "she couldn’t be believed" and that she "made things up."

The investigators were unable to uncover any physical evidence, such as text messages or emails, exchanged between Elias and the student.

On September 20, 2019, Elias filed an Anti-Harassment Protective Order against the minor student, approximately a year after becoming the SRO at her school.

Murray contacted Elias at his residence, and his wife became aware of the situation. The student had confided in her peers at school about their apparent sexual encounters, and other students had reported this to the principal.

She had even sent social media messages regarding Elias but later claimed that her account had been hacked. Subsequently, she was expelled from school. 

Following the conclusion of the administrative case, Elias expressed a desire to remain at Washington Hills Middle School, but Chief Murray transferred him to another middle school within the district in the autumn of 2019.

By December of that year, records from the Benton County Superior Court indicate that Elias' marriage had come to an end.

According to Murray, Elias' ex-wife was an underage student wrestler whom he had coached when they first met.

Elias Huizar was employed at Richland High School as a substitute

Records show that Elias was investigated multiple times in Yakima, including an investigation by the Washington State Attorney General's office for the allegations at the middle school.

On March 29, 2021, Elias and his ex-wife, Rodriguez, had a confrontation outside an RSD elementary school. The West Richland Police Department (WRPD) was contacted by school officials.

The Yakima Police Department (YPD) was notified and they investigated the incident. None of the investigations resulted in charges, but Elias resigned.

Separation forms filed by Chief Murray on February 14, 2022, with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center (WSCJTC) declared Elias "not eligible to be re-hired by the Yakima Police Department."

Records show Elias had already been hired by the Richland district on February 8, 2022. 

Elias began working as the official building sub at Jefferson Elementary on March 7, 2022. In October 2023, he was also permitted to be a volunteer wrestling coach at Richland High School.

Elias Huizar was slapped with rape charges for allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old girl

On February 3, 2024, Elias was arrested on charges of raping two minors.

At the time of his arrest, he lived with a 17-year-old girl in West Richland. She was the same girl against whom he had filed an anti-harassment protection order while she was a 13-year-old middle school student at Washington Hills in Yakima, where he had been employed as an SRO. 

Elias apparently impregnated her when she was 15 years old, and they had been living together since the birth of their child.

Reports state that on February 3, his girlfriend invited a friend over and Elias supplied them with alcohol. The 16-year-old went to sleep in the guest bedroom and was soon joined by Elias' girlfriend. 

She woke up to find Elias sexually assaulting the unconscious 16-year-old girl. After an argument, the girls managed to take the baby and flee from the house in his car.

When the teenagers found that Elias was following them, they called the police and went to a local gas station for the authorities to arrive. 

When police arrived at Elias' residence, he refused to cooperate. The SWAT team was brought in, and it took two hours to apprehend him. 

Following the arrest, Elias was slapped with several charges, including second-degree rape and furnishing alcohol to minors. He was charged separately with third degree rape for his relationship with his 17-year-old girlfriend. 

Elias' bail was set at $200,000 but was soon bonded out of jail. He was asked not to contact the teens and avoid drinking alcohol. 

Elias Huizar's ex-wife Amber Marie Rodriguez filed for a Civil Protection Order after his arrest

Following Elias' arrest on rape charges, his ex-wife, Rodriguez, expressed fear for her safety and that of their two sons, aged six and nine, as per court documents.

Rodriguez filed for a Civil Protection Order, which was granted on February 22. She also sought a change in custody for their boys, citing ongoing harassment from Elias since their 2020 divorce and expressing concerns about his mental and emotional stability.

She mentioned Elias' ownership of firearms, some of which were seized from his residence after his arrest.

Rodriguez described him as mentally unstable, reporting that he claimed to hear voices, exhibited a short temper, and tried to control her behavior.

In her statements seeking the protective order, Rodriguez mentioned Elias' diagnoses of PTSD, major depressive disorder, insomnia, alcohol use disorder, and an unspecified personality disorder.

Elias pled "not guilty" in court on February 15. His trial was set for April 22.