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."
make that Poor little girl.
Keep in mind that the news media is going to be running these sorts of sob stories in the runup to the AWB expiration on September 13. They've always happened, but they will be considered "news worthy" for the next month or so.
5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires
Yes...you just said you live alone not with children.
Yes...you just said you live alone not with children.
A 12 gauge would not have killed the girl?
Imagine that, a five year old girl wandering into her parents bedroom in the middle of the night.
Who'da thunk it.
This would have been a "one generation removed" darwin award except she was his step-daughter.
Yeah. Lucky for her, he didn't use an evil "assault" weapon. If he had, she'd be deader.
Teach your children to knock on closed doors before entering a room. It's common courtesy, and in this case would have saved the child's life. Intruders don't knock.
Knowing there were kids and others in the house, shooting through a door at an unknown sound is not excusable. I know that in a moment of panic people make bad decisions, that's why it's so important to visualize ahead what to do in every imaginable scenario.
"Why was he aiming so low?? A 5 year old is what, about three feet tall? This story really smells bad."
Your telling me, it is about as absurd as accidentally shooting your kid in the chest as they enter the house after the school bus dropped them off at the end of the school day.
It just doesn't happen. A piece of this story is missing - a key piece.
I agree.
A shot to the chest of a 5 year old would hit a perp in the thigh.
I'll pile on.
Hitting the kid in the chest could have just been result of his jerking the trigger under stress, but something is very weird with his shooting, knowing he had daughter and a family friend on the other side of the door.
Yuck.
Lay off the guy... He feels.... "bad".
On second thought, rip into him. There must be an MRI or CAT scan test that we can use to weed out stupids who want to own guns.
Yeah, something's way past ripe here.
My daughter used to do the same thing when she was little. Heck, she's 13 now and still comes into my room in the middle of the night sometimes.
What I can't fathom is that the little girl must have done this countless times in the past so he should have been used to it.
I wonder if he was expecting someone to come into the house that wasn't supposed to be there.
One does wonder. Statistically, a biologically unrelated adult male living in the home is the single biggest threat to a child's life.
I keep a Sure Fire flashlight next to the .45. That way I can blind an intruder as well as ID anyone else. Sad, sad story.
It's the girls fault that this guy blew her away by firing through a closed door with know family members and/or friends living also in the house.
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