Man murdered woman before texting her mother 'I’m sorry I killed your daughter'

Juan Camacho is accused of raping and murdering Veronica Rodriguez while her four children were in the house

Ms Rodriguez was killed shortly after she broke up with her boyfriend (Family photo / NBC)

A man allegedly raped and murdered his former girlfriend and then texted her mother to say: “I’m sorry I killed your daughter.”

25-year-old Juan Camacho has been accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend, 28-year-old Veronica Rodriguez in the home they shared in Philadelphia.

Ms Rodriguez’s children, three girls and a boy, were sleeping in the house at the time of the alleged murder.

The victim’s mother said she received a text message from Mr Camacho shortly after she was killed, as reported by NBC.

“He texted me and said 'I'm sorry, I killed your daughter,” said Maribel Guzman.

According to the police, Mr Camacho confessed to killing Ms Rodriguez in a call to emergency services when he said he had choked her to death and was feeling suicidal.

He fled the scene, but was later caught by police.

The night before, Ms Guzman said the alleged killer sent her a message on Facebook to ask how he could win her daughter back.

Ms Guzman described her daughter as a “good, good woman” who was “always happy, always bringing the family together.”

She said she last spoke to her daughter via FaceTime on Mother's day, when Ms Rodriguez told her she had broken up with her boyfriend of about six months.

Ms Rodriguez’s family, who live in Florida, are trying to raise $6,000 needed to bring her body home.

Mr Camacho has been charged with murder, rape, sexual assault and abuse of a corpse.

Police said there was no known history of domestic violence at the house or between the couple.

According to the US-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in five women and one in seven men have been the victim of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.