Police say a routine 911 report ultimately revealed a death that had gone undiscovered inside a West El Paso home for days.

EL PASO, Texas — A neighbor who noticed a garage door standing partly open and a strong odor coming from a West El Paso home set in motion a police response that ended with the discovery of 59-year-old David Edward De Coste’s body and the arrest of his 29-year-old son on a murder charge, according to police and court records.

The Aug. 18 call brought officers to the 6800 block of Villa Hermosa Drive shortly after 3 p.m. What first appeared to be an “unknown problem” became a homicide investigation after officers entered the property during a safety sweep and found De Coste’s body wrapped in plastic in the garage. Police later identified his son, John Michael De Coste, and 28-year-old Idalia Nunez De La Torre as the two people who remained inside the residence after officers arrived. A SWAT team and crisis negotiators were summoned before both came out and were taken into custody.

The discovery came days after the violence that investigators believe caused David De Coste’s death. Arrest affidavits cited in local reports place the confrontation sometime between Aug. 4 and Aug. 7. John De Coste told investigators that he had been showering before walking into a bedroom and finding his father kissing De La Torre, who had begun staying at the home earlier that month. Police records describe what followed as an argument that developed into a physical confrontation between father and son.

John De Coste gave investigators an account in which his father, whom he described as intoxicated, went toward another bedroom and tried to obtain a firearm. The younger De Coste said he intervened, pushed his father and caused him to fall and strike his head, according to the affidavits. He acknowledged slapping and kicking his father during the confrontation, police said. Investigators have alleged that those actions caused the older man’s fatal injuries. The allegations are contained in charging documents and have not been established at trial.

According to John De Coste’s account to detectives, his father eventually stopped fighting, took a pillow and remained on the floor. He told investigators that he checked on him at points during the night and believed he could hear him snoring. By the following morning, he said, his father no longer appeared to be alive. An autopsy later attributed David De Coste’s death to blunt-force injuries and a skull fracture, according to police records cited by local news organizations.

Investigators say the death was not immediately reported. John De Coste allegedly told detectives he was reluctant to contact authorities because he had an outstanding warrant. Police believe David De Coste’s body remained inside a bedroom for several days. Court documents say the younger De Coste later ordered a body bag through Amazon. Once it arrived, investigators allege, he enlisted De La Torre to help put the body into the bag and move it to the garage. Police have not alleged in the reports reviewed that De La Torre participated in the fatal assault itself.

De La Torre gave detectives a separate recorded statement that helped investigators reconstruct the period before and after the death. She said she had begun living at the home on Aug. 2 and told police that she and David De Coste had kissed on more than one occasion when his son was away. She said John De Coste eventually saw them kissing. De La Torre told investigators she did not witness the later physical confrontation between father and son and did not take part in harming David De Coste. Authorities instead accused her of helping handle the body afterward.

Police also allege that De La Torre used cleaning products on places in the residence that had come in contact with the body. At a later bond hearing, prosecutors again accused her of assisting with the cleanup and helping place David De Coste’s body into a bag before it was transferred to the garage. Those allegations form the basis of a charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence involving a human corpse. Her involvement remains an allegation, and the available public reports do not establish a conviction in the case.

For days, investigators say, the body remained concealed while the garage door was at least partly open. That detail eventually drew outside attention. The neighbor who contacted 911 told authorities the garage had been open for multiple days and that a strong odor was coming from the property. Responding officers reported noticing the odor as well. Their safety sweep led them to the wrapped body, changing the nature of the call within minutes and prompting officers to secure the home while they worked to determine whether anyone else was inside.

The presence of people in the residence was not immediately clear. Police said officers detected indications that others remained inside, and investigators eventually heard a voice. The department’s SWAT team and Crisis Management Team were called to the neighborhood. De La Torre came outside, and John De Coste later surrendered, according to police. The two were detained before the investigation moved from the scene to recorded interviews, forensic work and the preparation of criminal complaints.

David De Coste had previously served as a detective with the El Paso Police Department, according to local reporting and an obituary published after his death. The obituary also described his earlier service in the U.S. Army. His former law-enforcement career gave the homicide an additional connection to the department whose officers were called to the Villa Hermosa home, although the available records reviewed do not indicate that his prior police employment played a role in the events leading to his death.

Authorities charged John De Coste with murder and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. Police also listed a charge of continuous violence against family in reports about his arrest. He was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility without bond after the discovery, according to police and local reporting. De La Torre was booked on the evidence-tampering allegation with bond initially reported at $150,000. At an Aug. 25 hearing, prosecutors presented allegations about her actions after David De Coste’s death while the court considered her custody status.

The affidavits provide investigators’ account of the sequence but leave parts of the case to be tested through the court process. The exact date of the fatal encounter was not fixed in John De Coste’s recorded statement, which placed it within a period of several days. His assertion that his father sought a gun and his description of what happened before the physical confrontation are also part of his statement to investigators, rather than findings made by a court. Prosecutors would have to prove the criminal charges with admissible evidence in subsequent proceedings.

As of the latest reliable reports reviewed, no final disposition of the murder case had been announced. John De Coste remained accused, not convicted, of causing his father’s death, while De La Torre faced a separate allegation centered on what authorities say happened to the body afterward. The case that began with a neighbor noticing something wrong at an open garage was continuing through the El Paso court system.

Author note: Last updated September 29, 2026.