Homicide victim Margarita Guardado was released from a Boise hospital the day before she was murdered.
Guardado, a 16-year-old Wood River High School student, was transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center on Saturday, Aug. 11, following a one-vehicle accident on the north side of Galena Summit. She was released from Saint Alphonsus on Thursday, Aug. 16. Her charred body was found the following morning across the street from where she lived in the Woodside area of southeast Hailey.
A police task force investigating the homicide is looking into the circumstances of the accident to determine if they played a part in Guardado's murder.
Idaho State Police reported that Guardado was injured in the accident at about 3 p.m. on state Highway 75 on the north side of Galena Summit. She was a passenger that afternoon in a Chevrolet pickup driven by Ricardo Tellez-Vargas, a 26-year-old Hailey man, who is not believed to be related to Freddy Tellez, the 17-year-old Hailey teenager who has been charged with Guardado's murder.
ISP reported that the accident occurred when Guardado and Tellez-Vargas were returning to the Ketchum area from Redfish Lake, south of Stanley. The pickup, which crashed into a rock wall, caught fire and was destroyed before emergency responders could arrive at the scene.
"All their belongings, including their camping gear, was destroyed in the fire," said investigating officer Michael Faller, an ISP senior trooper.
Faller said Guardado suffered a collarbone injury in the accident and was strapped to a backboard to prevent further injury. She was then transported by emergency helicopter to Saint Alphonsus. Tellez-Vargas was also flown to the Saint Alphonsus but was released later that day.
Ketchum Fire Department Chief Mike Elle said both victims suffered "serious injuries but not life-threatening."
Faller said on Tuesday that the accident remains under investigation to determine if alcohol was involved.
Investigators have determined that Guardado's injuries from the accident played no part in her death. Instead, she died from severe injuries on the left side of her head.
Freddy Tellez was charged with first-degree murder Monday afternoon in Blaine County Magistrate Court. He is accused of killing Guardado with what police suspect was a carpenter's hammer, pouring a flammable liquid on her body and lighting her on fire.
"Death was likely instantaneous," Blaine County Coroner Russell Mikel said Thursday. "She likely died from her head injuries before the fire."
A probable cause affidavit filed with the court by lead investigator Steve Harkins, a detective with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office, states that Guardado suffered severe skull and brain injuries from the blow to her head.
The affidavit also describes Guardado as a "prior girlfriend and/or acquaintance to Freddy Tellez."
The affidavit further alleges that Guardado and Tellez communicated by telephone at 1:34 a.m. the morning that she died.
Guardado, who was born in California in 1991, leaves behind her mother, Maria Mares, a city of Hailey employee, and two older brothers and three younger sisters. A memorial Mass is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at St. Charles Catholic Church in Hailey.
The investigation into Guardado's murder is being led by a homicide task force comprising the sheriff's office, Hailey police and ISP.
Tellez remained incarcerated Thursday on $2 million bond.
Margarita Guardado
