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."
Firing blindly at a rattling doorknob is just stupid. There is not enough information to this story. Anyone with small children knows that they often come to your room when they awake in the middle of the night.
How big was this house/apartment? He didn't hear a sound before he gunned down the child? Plus "He feels bad" about killing a child? He's not destroyed? Sheesh!
I think this guy was drunk and doesn't know much about guns.
Agreed. I had 3 small children. I’ve been awoken in the middle of the night by a “strange” sound numerous times. I got grabbed my gun, got out of bed and check things out. First, always the kid’s rooms, rechecked my room, to check on the wife (to be sure she didn't get up when I was checking on the kids), then checked rest of the house. You don’t shoot first and ask question later IN YOUR OWN HOUSE.
I agreed either drunk or an idiot. Unfortuanatley, I think there is more to this sad story.
Not necessarily. If you live in the kind of neighborhood where well-armed gangsters regularly invade homes at night, trying to verify who's on the other side would just alert the intruder(s) to the fact that you're awake and alert, which might well cause them to start firing on you immmediately. I don't think this guy made the right choice, but I'm sympathetic to the fact that many Americans live in well-founded terror of violent crime, because our "justice" system refuses to keep violent sociopaths behind bars.
I currently keep my .45 under the bed cocked and locked. When I have kids, that will change. The gun will be where they cannot get to it, and another advantage to that is I'll have to get up and get it, giving me time to wake up and get my senses about me. Sounds like this guy just grabbed and shot without thinking. I don't live in a high crime neighborhood, so I don't know what it feels like to have constant fear of invastion. I'm prepared for it if it happens tho, you can be assured of that.
Very similar setup to my own (Rem 870 Marine w barrel light & tactical switch). Personally I prefer the shotgun for another reason...nothing gets a perps attention like the sound of a 12g shell being pumped into the chamber. I've pulled it once on a perp trying to break into my garage, and the guy made it all of 6 inches through the door before being greeted by that ominous *CLACK*CLACK* I've honestly never seen anybody run that fast in my life :-)
The know your target rule probably saved the life of my brother-in-law on one occasion as well. He was a key to my house and late one night decided that he was too drunk to drive home and instead came to my house. At 2AM I was awoken by the sound of someone noisily barging in through my front door, followed seconds later by the sound of someone tripping over my coffee table. I walked out of my bedroom and found myself faceing a dark hallway with the silhouette of an adult guy walking towards me. Had I not had the light, I'd have shot him. Luckily, I decided to light him up before I lit him up. I took his key away and made him sleep in the garage that night :-)
I'm presuming that they had the door locked, it's the only way this would make sense.
They might have been fooling around earlier and didn't want the daughter (or the family friend) to walk in at the wrong time, then fell asleep before unlocking the door.
I cannot stand that this happened. How could you shoot someone trying to open the bedroom door when you have a five year old in the house.
This story breaks my heart.
Dittos on everyhing except mine is 2.25 yrs old.
The step dad was either very jumpy for another reason (drugs, fear of someone who had threatened him earlier, perhaps illegal activity connected), or one stupid MF.
There is simply no way someone with a toddler in the house drops the hammer on sounds on the other side of the door, or even shadows showing in the opening of a door, without being under the effect of drugs or extreme paranoia.
But with children in the house, I would think........ before I shot. Or either, I am very carefree with a weapon.
I don't think I'm wrong here.
"Why was he aiming so low?? A 5 year old is what, about three feet tall? This story really smells bad."
Damn right. If I were the investigator I'd look for something else--like maybe he wanted to shut her up about something.
Straight off: Why aim so low? Why fire before waiting to see what developed? HOW did a small child--presumably doing something she's done befor, so effectivly simulate a predator?
Was this guy EXPECTING trouble from some one?
If I have a gun I WOULD RATHER my target get as close as possible. I'm more likley to hit him.
Who does what this guy did?
My husband kept his S&W Sigma loaded but not chambered. His thought was that forcing himself to go through the extra step would ensure that he could positively ID the "target" in a dark room - which could have very well have been me coming back from a trip to the bathroom.
Noboby.
There's no background here, such as, had this home been burglarized or broken into before?
If not, I can easily see manslaughter charges; in fact, that's the only logical conclusion for the grand jury.
If there is anything on record between the stepfather and the stepdaughter, then it can be bumped to negligent homicide.
There is simply no excuse for firing through a closed door in your own home with a five-year old in the house.
*****Not necessarily. If you live in the kind of neighborhood where well-armed gangsters regularly invade homes at night, trying to verify who's on the other side would just alert the intruder(s) to the fact that you're awake and alert, which might well cause them to start firing on you immmediately. I don't think this guy made the right choice, but I'm sympathetic to the fact that many Americans live in well-founded terror of violent crime, because our "justice" system refuses to keep violent sociopaths behind bars.*******
I'm not trying to be argumentative, but, if we lived in a neighborhood that dangerous, I would have my children in *my* room at night, every night.
Tragic. Sad.
I don't buy it.
He was shooting for the intruder's knees right?
More like one less mouth to feed.
Lock the idiot up for at least 20 years.
Neither do frightened little five year old girls.
I believe you said it WOULD have saved her life.
What kind of drugs might make someone so paranoid that they might do this kind of thing? When you hear noises in your home and you have small kids, the very first thing you think is one of them is up walking around.
He could have asked "who's there?" or take a shooting position to the side of the door. It would have allowed him to identify the target and still shoot if he had to.
I think Xenalyte is right on this one.
It's also strange because he's got this other guy staying in the home --- why would he be that nervous about strangers wandering about the house if there is another adult male staying there?
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