October 21, 2024 | By: Amaris Delack

This story is part of a collaborative project between Project: Cold Case and the University of North Florida’s Applied Journalism class.

Jessica Sabas, 33, loved watching her mother, Sonia Jimenez, dance any chance she got. “She wasn’t the mom that sat in the back, she was always on the dance floor,” Jessica said. Jessica also remembers her half-sister, Danielle, following her around. She often got asked if the 3-year-old was her daughter. “She used to bang on my door and put her fingers under the door anytime I had friends over,” she said.

Sonia Jimenez was born in Mexico in 1971. After she became a U.S. citizen, she moved to Arizona, where Jessica was born, and then to Texas. Sonia was known for always being herself. She loved to dance and would dance everywhere. She and her girls listen to Spanish music and dance around the coffee table. Every Quinceañera Jessica went to, her mother was there with her on the dance floor.

Sonia was known to friends and family as the Mexican Tina Turner. She was 5’8 and had Tina Turner legs. Sonia took pride in how she looked. “She wore it all,” Jessica said, remembering her mom going through many different hairstyles and colors. “She had a pixie cut, had that 90’s afro, had blonde, black, red, and orange hair,” Jessica said. Sonia also got eyeliner tattooed on her eyelids. “She had the clearest skin. You couldn’t see her pores, and she had no pimples,” Jessica said. She loved dressing up in blue jeans with a brown belt and a shirt tucked in. Right before she died, she had a corset made just for her, and it was embroidered. “She loved showing off her girls,” Jessica said, referring to Sonia’s ample cleavage. She always had her nails done and loved wearing high heels, she owned about 20 pairs of them.

Jessica admired her mom’s strength. particularly how Sonia didn’t let her emotions show and was always in control. She wanted to give her kids the best life possible. Sometimes, she felt like she wasn’t succeeding financially and was hard on herself, but Sonia never let defeat show on her face and demeanor. Her dreams were for her daughters to be happy, and she wanted to see them graduate and get married. Along with her love for her daughters, Sonia had three best friends and spent her time hanging out with them. In the mornings, after she dropped Jessica off at school, she spent time with one friend. They would have coffee and breakfast and gossip. At night, she’d spend time with her other two friends, and they’d go clubbing and enjoy life.

Jessica remembers the loving and fun memories she had with her mom and sister. Jessica is now married and lives west of Houston, Texas. She has kept Danielle’s Barney toy and one of the many teddy bears her mother loved to collect. Sonia owned about 120 teddy bears. “She liked them big, small, or little,” Jessica stated. Jessica loved her mom. “She was my best friend,” Jessica said. She remembers her mom as someone who had a great life. Jessica was always comfortable with her mom and would tell her everything. She was never embarrassed by her mom and loved the way she presented herself.

The days Jessica and her mother spent listening to Spanish music and dancing around the coffee table ended 18 years ago when her mother never came home. Sonia’s body was found outside a friend’s apartment in Channelview, Texas and soon afterward, little Danielle was kidnapped. According to police reports, Sonia’s estranged husband Leandro Jimenez is suspected in both the murder and the kidnapping. At this time, neither crime has been resolved, and Danielle has not been seen. In a few short hours, Jessica had lost her whole world. She was only 15 years old.

Danielle Idaly Jimenez was 3 years old and was born in Texas. She lived with her mother and Jessica. She was a happy baby and always laughing. She always wore pink and had a Barney stuffed animal- which Jessica keeps today. People always asked Jessica whether Danielle was her kid since she was always following her around. Danielle always made Jessica smile. ‘She would tell me ‘mana, jugar,’ which meant sister, play with you,” Jessica said. She liked to walk around in Sonia’s shoes.

On July 31^st, 2006, Sonia Jimenez was stabbed outside a friend’s apartment in Channelview, Texas. She was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she later died. Adding to this tragedy, a couple hours after her mother’s death – and before Jessica had even learned of her death – Jessica was babysitting Danielle at their home in a Pasadena trailer park. Leandro entered the home and took Danielle from Jessica. Jessica and her older brother became aware of their mother’s death when Harris County Sheriff’s deputies came to the house late that night. Law enforcement believes that Sonia’s estranged husband, Leandro Jimenez, is responsible for Sonia’s brutal murder.

Leandro and Sonia had been married for almost 13 years. Records show that Leandro Jimenez had a history of violence against Sonia. Police believed that Jimenez had tracked his estranged wife to the apartment in the 16100 block of Bear Bayou Drive, and then stabbed her in the parking lot.

Jessica said that she couldn’t cry for a whole year. “I was in shock. I still play that day in my mind and try to figure out how I could have changed it,” she says.

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Anyone with information concerning the homicide of Sonia Jimenez, or information leading to the recovery of Danielle Jimenez, and the apprehension of Leandro Jimenez are asked to call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at (713) 967-5810. To remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward, call the Harris County Sheriff’s Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.

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