Investigation into “unlicensed community housing” leads to murder charges, according to Arlington police

A January death at an Arlington adult care facility that is at the center of an investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect has been ruled a homicide, police said.

Regla Becquer, who ran the community shelters, is now facing murder charges, according to Arlington police.

Becquer, 49, was arrested on Feb. 15 as part of a “large-scale investigation into several unlicensed residential homes” operating under the name Love and Caring for People, police said in a March news release.

A message left with the attorney listed in Tarrant County court records as Becquer’s representative was not immediately returned. Her bail is listed on the county website as $1.5 million.

In the press release, Arlington police said they were facing charges of neglect or endangering a person resulting in imminent danger of bodily harm. Arlington police also released the addresses of five establishments that Becquer allegedly managed, adding that they had “identified several potential victims.”

In a news release Thursday, Arlington police said the Tarrant County Coroner’s Office has determined the Jan. 12 death of 60-year-old Steven Pankratz was a homicide. Pankratz died at 7411 Lake Whitney Drive – one of the addresses Arlington police disclosed in March, according to the coroner’s website.

The medical examiner’s website lists his cause of death as mixed drug toxicity. The medical examiner’s office also listed “trazodone, tramadol, and mirtazapine” in its description of the cause of death.

According to Becquer’s arrest warrant affidavit from February, someone reported to police that his friend was being held against his will at a facility at 1210 Woodbrook Street in Arlington.

Officers who visited the facility spoke with a woman who described several instances of abuse or neglect and said she was “given medications that were not prescribed for her,” the affidavit states.

According to police, Becquer operated nursing homes at the following addresses:

• 1210 Woodbrook St. in Arlington
• 7411 Lake Whitney Drive in Arlington
• 7419 Fossil Creek Drive in Arlington
• 2059 Turtle Cove Drive in Mansfield
• 1852 Hidden Brook Drive in Grand Prairie