A Texas man was arrested after police said his handgun went off while trying to smash the window of the car his girlfriend was hiding in, shooting and killing her.
In the early hours of Sept. 15, Francisco Ochoa, 19, and his girlfriend Joselyn Espinoza, 24, had allegedly gotten into an argument in a motel parking lot, according to the Houston Police Department Friday.
Surveillance footage from the Palace Inn Motel allegedly showed Ochoa getting out of the driver's side of a green truck, walking around the vehicle and attempting to open the passenger's side door, which was locked. Ochoa returned to the driver's side, but Espinoza reached over and locked that door too.
Ochoa allegedly began hitting the window with a handgun. He ended up shattering the glass, but the gun went off and allegedly struck Espinoza in the head, as reported by KPRC.
Ochoa brought Espinoza to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. She was transported to a different medical center where she was pronounced dead at 9:15 a.m. Sept. 15.
Espinoza's family said that the two had only been dating for a few months, and some of them did not even know she had a boyfriend.
"She never mentioned her talking to that guy, Francisco," Destiny Espinoza, Joselyn's sister, told KPRC. "I feel like it was a stranger who stole my sister from us."
Ochoa reportedly refused to speak with detectives or allow them to search his truck. He also allegedly provided two different officers with two different statements. Officers ended up seizing his truck and after obtaining a warrant to search it, found blood in truck and a shattered window.
"We still don't know exactly what they were arguing about, but all I know is that she was trying to get away from him," Destiny Espinoza told KPRC.
A warrant was issued for Ochoa's arrest Friday, and he turned himself in. He is facing manslaughter charges and is currently being held on a $200,000 bond.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover Joselyn Espinoza's funeral costs, which has raised more than $2,700 as of Tuesday.
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