Laura Grillo: Murder-for-Hire Plot, Convictions, and Daughter’s Fate

The Laura Grillo murder was a November 13, 2015 killing in Rowlett, Texas, in which the 37-year-old mother of three was shot in her home eight days before her wedding. Her fiancé, Ioannis “John” Makris, had arranged the killing and hired two employees of the couple’s remodeling business to carry it out. All three men were later convicted.¹

What Happened on November 13, 2015

Jesus Trevino entered Grillo’s home that morning using a security code supplied by Makris and shot her once in the head with a .45 caliber handgun. James Villeda waited outside as the getaway driver. Grillo’s brother, who lived in the house and had significant hearing loss, was asleep and did not hear the gunshot. He found her body on the kitchen floor around noon.¹

There was no sign of forced entry. A safe in the master bedroom stood open and drawers had been pulled out. Investigators concluded the scene had been staged to look like a burglary.²

Grillo, born August 17, 1978, co-owned the remodeling business with Makris and volunteered with the Rowlett Police Department’s Volunteers in Police Service program. She had three children: a five-year-old daughter with Makris and two older children who lived out of state with their paternal families.³⁴

Why Makris Wanted Her Dead

Prosecutors traced the plot to an email Grillo sent Makris in June 2015 telling him she was unhappy and wanted to end the relationship. Rather than accept the breakup, Makris proposed the following month. Detectives concluded the proposal was a stalling tactic while he arranged her killing.¹

Detective Christopher Sawyer of the Rowlett Police Department said the email was the catalyst: “We felt like this was the reason why Laura was murdered — because she wanted out the relationship, and John did not want to lose her or the children as a result.”¹

Makris paid Trevino, an employee of the remodeling business, $15,000 for the killing. Trevino brought in Villeda, another employee, for $1,000 to drive. Both were convicted sex offenders. Trevino had even been named one of Makris’s groomsmen for the wedding.⁵⁶

Villeda later testified that he and Trevino tried three times before to carry out the killing and aborted each attempt because neighbors were outside. Makris grew increasingly agitated over the delays.⁷⁸

How Investigators Unraveled the Plot

Makris appeared, at first, to have an alibi. Surveillance footage placed him at a Home Depot across town at the time of the shooting, ruling him out as the shooter.²

His behavior raised suspicions almost immediately. Asked who lived in the home, he listed household members but never named Grillo. Detective Jeff Freeman called the omission a “huge red flag.”²¹

Cell phone records put Trevino and Villeda in Rowlett at the time of the shooting, and surveillance captured a silver Kia Makris had bought for the crime in the neighborhood that morning. Villeda eventually confessed and described the killing as a murder-for-hire directed by Makris.¹²

Trevino fled Texas. Police obtained an arrest warrant for him in December 2015 for failing to register as a sex offender, then used his Google account and phone records from an ex-girlfriend in Denver to track him to Florida. ICE agents arrested him in Clearwater on April 1, 2016. He was identified as a previously deported felon who had re-entered the country illegally. Inside his Google account, investigators found photographs of an ex-girlfriend holding a .45 caliber handgun. A witness named Ramone told police Trevino had discussed the murder plot months earlier and had said Makris was offering $15,000 for the job.¹

The Convictions

A Dallas County grand jury indicted Makris on a charge of capital murder for remuneration on June 2, 2016.⁹ He was convicted in September 2018 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.¹⁰ On appeal, Makris argued that Villeda’s accomplice testimony was not sufficiently corroborated. On May 29, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas affirmed his conviction, finding that non-accomplice evidence at trial was enough to connect him to the killing.¹¹

Trevino was tried for capital murder in Dallas County. On February 25, 2019, the jury found him guilty in under 45 minutes and sentenced him to life without parole. Lead prosecutor Marissa Hatchett said the plot had been planned carefully enough that investigators needed more than six months to unravel it.⁸⁷

Villeda pleaded guilty to murder and accepted a 25-year prison sentence in exchange for truthful testimony against Makris and Trevino. His account of buying the car, wearing hoodies and masks, and disposing of evidence was central to both trials.⁵¹²

As of March 2025, Makris remains incarcerated in a Texas prison serving his life sentence.²

What Happened to Grillo’s Daughter

After his conviction, Makris tried to have custody of his and Grillo’s five-year-old daughter awarded to his mother so the child could be raised in Greece. The request was denied. The girl was adopted by Heather Nabor, Grillo’s best friend and the intended maid of honor at the wedding that never happened. Nabor had taken the child in shortly after the murder and told reporters at the time that she hoped to eventually adopt her.²⁴

1
Oxygen. Laura Grillo Murder Fiance John Makris Wedding
2
ABC News. Texas Woman Slain Week Before Wedding
3
Legacy.com. Laura Grillo Obituary
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Fox 4 News. Friends React to Fiance Charged With Murder in Rowlett Moms Death
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Fox 4 News. Hitman in Rowlett Murder-for-Hire Plot Sentenced to Life in Prison
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The Dallas Morning News. Groom-to-Be Paid Convicted Sex Offenders to Kill Rowlett Mother
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NBC DFW. Hitman Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murdering Mother of Three
8
Dallas County District Attorney. Press Release: Jesus Trevino Conviction
9
KXAN. North Texas Police Volunteer Hired Sex Offenders to Kill Fiancee
10
City of Rowlett. Friday 5 Newsletter
11
Justia. Ioannis Makris v. State of Texas, No. 05-18-01200-CR
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The Dallas Morning News. Gunman Hired by Fiance to Kill Rowlett Woman Is Sentenced to Life in Prison