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Young girl mistaken as intruder, shot and killed by stepfather
www.khou.com ^

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."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; girl; gun; houston; shooting; shot; stepfather
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To: CROSSHIGHWAYMAN

And you know this based on your extensive research of evidence at the scene?


161 posted on 08/16/2004 7:18:11 PM PDT by SALChamps03
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To: annyokie

LOL! That makes sense. There is never any question in anyones mind as to who the Mother is, unless she is just carrying the kid for someone else. Before the advent of DNA, though, the daddy could not be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt.


162 posted on 08/16/2004 7:19:37 PM PDT by F.J. Mitchell (You're extremely slow if you're not swift enough to see that the Swiftvets are telling it like it is)
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To: F.J. Mitchell

It's actually kind of rare to those long-time Americans in the SW --- you won't find too many of them using two first names and two last names --- compare the phone book of most any SW city with that of one from Mexico. Most (not all) also pick names for their kids that translate fairly easily into English -- they might chose "Juan" because it can mean "John" and names like "Perfecta", "Innocencio", "Heriberto", "Agun" are not all that oftenly used. Usually those with those different kinds of names are immigrants.


163 posted on 08/16/2004 7:26:12 PM PDT by FITZ
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To: annyokie

It's not so confusing after a while --- but I've seen Americans of hispanic descent not understand that people in Mexico and other countries have 4 names and it's the two middle names they consider to be their first and last name. For example Maria de Guadalupe Garcia Lopez is Guadalupe Garcia and Jose Luis Lopez Garcia is Luis Lopez. Here on the border, if someone is using two last names, it's a pretty good bet their families were not here before 1985.


164 posted on 08/16/2004 7:35:23 PM PDT by FITZ
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To: cinFLA

You have a point...


165 posted on 08/16/2004 7:41:31 PM PDT by TheBattman (http://www.swiftvets.com/)
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To: F.J. Mitchell

Regarding the source of stats.....I remember hearing this 10-12 years ago, when I had remarried my current husband, and had a young daughter from a disastrous first marriage.....and thinking, how awful this is for the good stepfathers, like my husband. I don't recall who did the studies.

If you do a google search though, you will see that social service agencies do consider it (biologically unrelated adult males in a household) in risk assessment of child abuse. Rightly or wrongly.

I agree with you that a stepparent can be a great blessing, as my husband has been for my daughter. He is now her Daddy, as he adopted her ten years ago this month.


166 posted on 08/16/2004 7:44:14 PM PDT by BizzeeMom ("We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Bl. Teresa of Calcutta)
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To: tx4guns

Why do I get the feeling he was drunk.


167 posted on 08/16/2004 7:45:10 PM PDT by I got the rope
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To: tx4guns

I heard on an AM radio show this afternoon that the stepfather saw the open door and a silloutte appeared in it. He shot the sillouette. Only hear-say, but a probable scenario. He was scared of somebody coming for him. Stinks, don't it.


168 posted on 08/16/2004 8:58:52 PM PDT by tx4guns (Guns don't murder people; stupid people murder people.)
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To: F.J. Mitchell
Interestingly enough a study has been done on adopted children. They did a comparison on how adopted children are raised etc. vs adopted children. There IS a difference. With all things being equal ... an adoptive parent will spend LESS on the adopted child vs. the biological child. Same with quantity and quality of food - more on the biological and less on the adopted child.

I'm not making this up. I wish I could give you a link or more about the particular study but the results made sense. I can see the difference in how women treat adopted kids vs. their own biological kids. It's typically not obvious but if you observe you can see it.

As to whether or not the child is safer ... I haven't seen a study geared to that however I have read some stuff where girls/boys are often sexually abused by the step parent. Often the reason the person married is because of the child and their pedophile tendencies. If a mom is hard up for money she'll often over look the abuse.

Of course the biological is ideal however as you say if this is not possible I see an adoptive parents as having an even bigger heart to take in these precious little ones. Again, I don't aim this at you but rather PRAISE you for having an honest loving heart. You are not the norm. You are VERY, VERY SPECIAL.
169 posted on 08/16/2004 9:08:43 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: F.J. Mitchell
What concerned me immediately was the age of the step father - 25. That's young and typically immature. This little one is only 5 years old. It's not unusual for a little one to wonder into a parents bedroom after a bad dream. I can't believe he mistook a child, 5 year olds, as a threat. They are not big and menacing at 5 years old. I don't buy this one as a mistake.
170 posted on 08/16/2004 9:12:22 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: tx4guns

I have 3 kids. Every single one of them attempts to sleep with mom and dad at least once a week. Seems odd to me that he would not have considered the possibility before shooting.


171 posted on 08/16/2004 9:15:46 PM PDT by I'm ALL Right! ("I'm John Kerry, and I approved this lie.")
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
You hear someone on the other side of your bedroom door in the middle of the night and your first response is to shoot through the door.

What is wrong with this picture?

The idiot should have had his gun locked in a gun safe or it should have had a trigger lock on it. It is not safe to keep an unlocked, loaded gun beside your bed when there are small children in the house.

Unless this family lived in an absolutely horrific neighbor the husband and wife were both negligent and caused the death of their daughter.

172 posted on 08/16/2004 9:23:49 PM PDT by jamaly (kneepad liberals make me puke)
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To: SALChamps03
SALChamps03 said: "That being said, there is nothing the courts can do to this man that will be anywhere near as bad as what he will do to himself every day for the rest of his life. "

It's been decades since I thought this way.

Now, I know that there is evil in the world and that there are evil people.

I don't for a moment believe that O.J. suffers at all now or that he spends any time searching for the "real killer". There are sociopaths in this world who would feel no remorse whatever for having taken a human life.

173 posted on 08/16/2004 9:28:14 PM PDT by William Tell
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To: GovernmentShrinker

"The parents shared a bed with their three young daughters because the only other bedroom in the house is rented by another man, friends said. Police said Alejandra may have gotten up to use the bathroom and was returning to her parents' bed when she was mistaken for a burglar."


174 posted on 08/17/2004 7:28:09 AM PDT by cinFLA
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To: NJ_gent
After all, you don't know if it's a 6ft man or a 4ft midget. Either one can kill you with the right tools.

175 posted on 08/18/2004 12:19:03 PM PDT by ohioconservative
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