A Texas woman recorded a cell phone video showing the moment that a man allegedly accidentally pulled the trigger of a handgun he though was unloaded and killed her.
Karina Isabel Tobias, 21, died on 12 April, after succombing to gunshot injuries in an El Paso area hospital, according to officials.
“Karina had an accident,” according to a GoFundMe page from her family, which has raised more than $8,000 for medical bills and funeral expenses. “Karina was a young (soul) full of life, full of dreams, and more than anything full of love to give.”
A week later, police arrested 24-year-old Efrain Orozco for the killing and charged him with murder on Monday.
Mr Orozco, reportedly a past or present boyfriend of Tobias, had been out in the desert around El Paso with her at the time of the shooting, where the pair were firing guns.
The pair were near the bed of Mr Orozco’s truck when he saw that Tobias was recording a video on her cell phone.
Thinking the .45 caliber gun in his hand was unloaded after removing the magazine, he pointed the pistol at the phone and pulled the trigger, he later told investigators.
Mr Orozco said the he rushed Tobias to a hospital in a panic, leaving the cell phone behind. In a call to 911, he initially claimed Tobias had shot herself.
At the time police arrived at the hospital, Mr Orozco had left, according to his arrest affidavit, but deputies arrested him once he returned.
He told police the shooting was an accident.
On 18 April, police and members of the US Department of Homeland Security accessed Tobias’s cell phone, which captured the incident on tape.
Efrain Orozco is now being held in the El Paso County Detention Facility, where he faces a $500,000 bond.
It is not immediately clear whether he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
