Posted on 08/16/2004 2:04:13 PM PDT by tx4guns
HOUSTON -- A 5-year-old girl's stepfather accidentally shot and killed the child after mistaking her for a burglar, according to law officers.
Struck in the chest with a single bullet, Alejandra Hernandez died Sunday after she was taken to LBJ Hospital in Houston.
Agun Ortega Pina told police he heard suspicious noises and reached for his gun about 1 a.m. He shot when someone tried to open the door of the bedroom where he and his wife were sleeping.
But the person Pina thought was breaking into his bedroom was actually his stepdaughter, who just wanted to be with her parents.
Pina, 25, of Houston has not been charged in the tragic case of mistaken identity. But police say the case will instead be referred to the Harris County Grand Jury.
Silverio Portillo said he was staying at the home when Pina fired the round that struck the child in the chest.
"I just woke up and Alejandra was right there on the floor," Portillo told the Houston Chronicle through an interpreter for Monday's editions.
Portillo said he then helped the parents carry their wounded child to the family's van.
"She was alive -- she was breathing," he said.
A family friend spoke with Pina soon after the little girl was shot at the Northeast Houston home.
"He has a broken heart," said Max Gutierrez. "He told me, 'I can't believe it. I feel bad."'
Shocked neighbors gathered across the street from the small woodframed house. They are helping with family expenses, distributing plastic buckets with the victim's photo in area restaurants and businesses. They said burglaries were a concern in the area.
"The family was very happy," said Sammy Gomez, a next-door neighbor. "We're all friends here."
Eleven-year-old Juan Rodriguez' parents told him about his best friend's death.
"She liked to play right here in the street," he said. "She was like my little sister. She liked to share everything."
Agreed. I have loaded guns in both bedstands. I won't fire without knowing what I am firing at.
You have a VERY nasty habit of demonizing others.
If he was so worried, why didn't he check on the kids before shooting?
That's what I thought. I don't like this story. I'm a bit skeptical.
No way is this an accident. He just wanted to get rid of the step-kid...
Yes, always good to think before you shoot. But I'm giving this guy the benefit of the doubt, since I don't know all the facts, and the article indicates that it's a high crime neighborhood. Maybe he did call out first, asking who it was, and got no answer, and in his panic felt sure that meant it must be an intruder.
What about kids who sleep walk or who are only half awake --- maybe waking up from some nightmare looking for their parents' room? You cannot really expect small children to always knock and assume you'll shoot if they don't quickly identify themselves --- anyhow --- what was the paranoia really about when there is another adult male --- some kind of buddy -- staying at the house --- that's not usually when you're the most paranoid normally.
"This story really smells bad."
My thoughts exactly.
True. Any father who has raised a child from infancy is very used to this. The key here is the description of his as a "stepfather."
Why were they raising a little girl in a high crime neighborhood in the first place? Maybe they are involved in some of the crime that's going on.
The guy is just a plain old chicken sh*t cowardly sonovabitch. His child is asleep in another part of the house and instead of being concerned about her safety as he sees his door being open he blows her away in fear for his own safety. What a POS!
There is not one rational excuse for what happened here, and the least he should be charged with is involuntary homicide.
I am one hundred percent defender of the second amendment, but in needless tragedies such as this, I feel the Perp should be made an example of and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Whatever the sentence he recieves, it should include the removal of his trigger finger, up to his elbows.
You're really blaming the CHILD in this? My children don't knock when they are scared. Many times, I haven't even known they had entered my room until I hear a frightened little, "Mommy?" next to my ear or feel a tiny little body snuggle next to me.
As for the neighborhood...if crime is bad enough that the loaded gun was kept within reach of where this man was sleeping, then the little girl should have been sleeping in their room to begin with.
Bless her heart...and rest her soul. :(
I bet he's a drug dealer and didn't trust that Portillo guy too much and that's who he thought was at the door.
You must be a very kind man.
I must not be as kind.
Lord......please forgive me!
"Bless her heart....and rest her soul. :("
Amen to that and the rest of your comment as well.
"I would never have barged into my parents room without knocking at that age, because by that time my parents had taught me to knock first (nor would my parents have barged into my room without knocking, once I was old enough to be closing my bedroom door when I went to sleep).
Were you once...or have you ever MET a child? If so, you would know that a terrified child would rather break the knocking rule and run to the safety of their parents rather than wait patiently outside, knocking, while the "ghost under the bed" gets closer. This is absurd.
I'm not buying it. The chest of a 5 year old is mighty low. Was he expecting to hit the "intruder" in the shins?
I was thinking the same thing.
It's not ringing true to me. As I commented earlier, the chest of a 5 year old is nowhere near adult level. Where was this guy intending to shoot this intruder?
Hmmmm ... a STEPFATHER .... !
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.