San Angelo, Texas — A 31-year-old woman is accused of shooting and stabbing her live-in boyfriend to death after allegedly catching him sexually abusing her daughter, then dismembering his body with help from her father before dumping the remains in a landfill.

Audrey Troncoso confessed to police that she killed Roland Matthew Sheppard after discovering the alleged abuse, according to authorities. She reportedly shot him in the face and stabbed him multiple times. Her father, Mario Valdez Troncoso, was later charged with tampering with physical evidence for allegedly assisting in the disposal of the body.

An anonymous tip led investigators to the couple’s home, where they discovered blood evidence. Parts of Sheppard’s remains were later recovered from a local landfill. Troncoso and her father were arrested in connection with the case.

The disturbing allegations have shocked the San Angelo community, raising questions about vigilante justice, child protection, and the failures that may lead someone to take such extreme measures. Court records and police statements detail a gruesome scene involving dismemberment and attempts to conceal the crime.

Authorities have not released full details of the timeline or the extent of the alleged abuse, as the investigation is ongoing. Both suspects face serious felony charges.

On the question of whether she should have called the police:

Yes, she absolutely should have called the police immediately.

No parent can truly understand the rage of discovering someone harming their child — and the protective instinct is primal and powerful. But taking the law into one’s own hands, executing the person, dismembering the body, and attempting to cover it up creates a cascade of additional crimes, risks innocent people (including family members), destroys evidence that could have helped prosecute the abuser legally, and leaves the justice system unable to fully address the harm to the child or any other potential victims.

The right response is to secure the child’s safety, contact law enforcement right away, and let the system — however imperfect — handle the abuser through arrest, investigation, and prosecution. Vigilante killings often complicate cases, endanger families further, and can result in the parent losing custody or facing life in prison themselves, leaving the child without either parent.

This is a horrific situation on every level. The priority must always be protecting the child and pursuing justice through legal channels, not revenge that spirals into more tragedy.