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."
death of any child in situation like this really get to me.
it pain me to read about a child is dead as result of the parent.
Tragic beyond words. Truly horrible.
The other thing I find odd is the time it takes for the kid to open the door and the time it took him to get out of bed, get the gun, and fire.
Now if a window was broken or the front door, that is a whole different story.
I said that if she had been TAUGHT to knock, it could have saved her life. I thought it was obvious that a 5 year old wasn't expected to have taught herSELF such things. Not to you, apparently.
There is more to this.
I'll just keep listening.
Many Americans have weapons for protection and shooting through the door, while still closed is NOT an option.
And more especially if there are children in the house!
If you have enough time to grab your weapon, you have enough time to verify who's there on the other side.
Much as it pains me to do so, I hereby bump your posts on this thread.
;^)
The best advice is the one you have already covered.
Be 100% sure of your target before you pull a trigger. Never ASSUME anything.
This is sad beyond belief.
I live alone too, and I'm a woman. I keep both a 38 and a fully loaded shotgun by my bed, but I would NEVER fire until I saw an intruder. You just don't "guess" who's at the door. He killed that child, needlessly. He deserves to go to jail. It's nuts like him that make it hard for responsible gun owners.
And like so many others have said, I would also never shoot at anything I haven't identified.
A truly sad story, but I would like to see some posts from those who were saved through gun self defence.
My first thought too.
I wasn't there so I don't know but I can visualize a paranoid person (drugs, enemies?) sleeping with a gun under his pillow whose first instinct is to shoot. Even if, he should be pay for his actions with hard time.
Unfortunately, like some other posters on this thread, I'm not convinced that "or worse" isn't applicable here. However, without more facts, I'll give the stepfather the benefit of the doubt. If this a high-crime neighborhood, it MIGHT not be entirely unreasonable to think that a noise at your door is an intruder, especially if any children in the house do not make a habit of coming to the parents' room at night -- still shouldn't shoot through the door without at least a quick "Susie, is that you?", but obviously this guy isn't a mental giant. I just hope he isn't a murderous creep who wanted to get the "other guy's" pesky little rugrat out of the way.
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET
Although I have sympathy for this family - I must say this idiot has dealt a blow to the cause of gun ownership. This is EXACTLY the type of case that gets plastered all over the media and dredged up every time further gun restriction legislation comes up.
The step-father, at minimum, should be charged with negligible homicide. Sure, it was an accident (I hope!), but he was obviously negligent in his action.
On the other hand - IF more comes out through the investigation - the SOB would deserve death row....
OMG off topic but your tag line is cracking me UP!
You are free to post some. Go to it!
No accident. He deliberately pointed and fired the gun. He hit the intended target.
I don't buy the shooter's story.
If he was shooting through a door and aiming at a full grown person's chest, the bullet would have struck the girl at the top of the head, MAYBE.
This five year old had a single wound to the chest, which may have been a thigh shot on a full grown adult. I'm only 5'7", and either this was a very tall 5 year old girl, or this guy was trying to scare the intruder away by shooting him between the legs and below my package.
Smells off to me.
BINGO. Ten bucks says this little girl was abused, and Daddy didn't want the authorities to find out. I will leave alone the fact that the "witness" had to speak to an interpreter.
You have a VERY nasty habit of putting words in people's mouths. Some would call that "projection."
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