A Honduran man living in Texas has been arrested for allegedly shooting dead his girlfriend while she slept and forcing his nephew to help hide her corpse.

Jesus Varela, 48, has been accused of murdering his girlfriend, Christelrose Angel Ramirez inside the house they shared with his young nephew.

Prosecutors claim he shot Ramirez while she slept on December 1 then forced his nephew to help him stuff her body into a trash bag, which he wrapped inside three more trash bags and stuffed into a barrel, according to Law & Crime.

Houston police would go on to find the blue barrel in the woods on December 10, with prosecutors now saying the location data from Varela's phone placed him at the same spot on the morning of December 1, KHOU reports.  

At a probable cause hearing last week, a judge described how Varela allegedly threatened his nephew and told him he 'had already killed one person and wanted to kill another, with a grip on [the nephew's] shirt.'

He even allegedly struck the boy in the chest with an open hand, according to Click 2 Houston.  

The nephew then obliged with helping Varela hide the corpse, and together, prosecutors say, they also disposed of the bed where Ramirez had been sleeping in a nearby apartment complex. 

It was only when one of the nephew's friends heard him talking about what had happened that Texas Rangers learned of the crime, at which point the nephew reportedly gave a full confession.

Investigators went on to search the couple's home, where they allegedly found numerous dried blood stains - including in the shower and the bedroom.

'There was also blood above the bed where the complainant would have been sleeping when she was shot,' Harris County District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle said at a court hearing on Tuesday.

Police then pinged Ramirez's phone, which authorities say led them to the body. 

An ensuing autopsy has since confirmed Ramirez's identity and determined that she died of multiple gunshot wounds.

But when questioned by police, Varela acknowledged he was in a relationship with Ramirez and said they had an argument around Thanksgiving, when she accused him of keeping her like a prisoner inside their house.

He claimed Ramirez left for several days, but returned on November 30.

When Varela then returned home from work on December 1, he claimed she was gone.

The Honduran national maintained his innocence when he appeared before a judge on Tuesday, shackled and in an orange prison jumpsuit.

'I want to say only that I am innocent,' he said through a translator before the judge stopped him from speaking further, as he did not yet have an attorney.

Ramirez's family described her as the kind of person who helped others.

'She didn't deserve this,' Ramirez's aunt, Maggie Ramirez, told Click 2 Houston. 'She helped the whole world. She helped strangers.'

Family members also said that her on-and-off relationship with Varela had been abusive at times.

They noted that police had previously been called to the couple's home in November for a domestic violence dispute, but Ramirez was the one who was arrested at the time.

They are now hoping that her case will inspire others in domestic violence situations to speak up and seek help as they work to raise money for her funeral.

'We are heartbroken by the circumstances surrounding her passing and out family is struggling to give her the peaceful resting place she deserves,' an online fundraiser reads.

In the meantime, Varela is being held without bail on charges of murder, tampering with a corpse, assault of a family member and unlawful restraint.

He is also on an immigration hold by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.