Left inset: Jose Lopez Xique (Hennepin County). Right inset: Kayli Arseth (Gearty-Delmore Funeral Chapels, Inc). Background: The 7700 block of Penn Avenue South in Richfield, Minn., where Jose Lopez Xique killed Kayli Arseth (Google Maps).
A Minnesota man has been found guilty of murdering a 22-year-old woman who rejected his romantic advances — shooting a bullet through her right eye “at close range” — just one day after she turned him down on Snapchat.
“How could you do this to me?” shouted Jose Luis Lopez Xique, 27, while he was gunning down Kayli Arseth in June 2025 at her home in Richfield, according to the criminal complaint.
Lopez Xique was convicted last week by a Hennepin County jury of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and harassment using a dangerous weapon.
The first-degree murder conviction “triggers a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole,” according to the Hennepin County Attorney”s Office.
“This was a horrifying instance of a ‘rejection killing’ where Mr. Lopez Xique refused to accept that Kayli did not want a relationship,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in a press release and statement announcing Lopez Xique’s conviction.
“Kayli loved music, art, and her family and friends,” according to Moriarty. “She was restoring her motorcycle while working as a behavioral technician for children with special needs. She should still be with her family and her loved ones.”
Lopez Xique executed Arseth — a “very bright, sassy, funny, and caring” woman who “loved working with children,” according to her obituary — after meeting her online. Lopez Xique started buying things for Arseth during “shopping trips” and got closer to her, but the relationship “was not romantic or sexual,” per the complaint.
On Snapchat, police said Arseth and Lopez Xique had “best friend” badges and a “streak” that had just ended before her death.
“A review of messages in the days leading up to Victim’s death revealed that Defendant [Lopez Xique] was asking Victim for a romantic relationship with ‘actual dates,'” according to the complaint. “Victim responded to Defendant that she was only interested in a friendship and did not feel a romantic attraction to Defendant.”
Lopez Xique told Arseth he wanted to “see more effort from her in their relationship” and Arseth asked him if he was free on June 16 to help her with her motorcycle. Lopez Xique offered to pick her up that night after work, and Arseth said she would let him know about his “suggested plan,” per the complaint.
On June 16 at 2:55 p.m., Arseth contacted Lopez Xique on Snapchat and told him, “I did enjoy hanging out with you, but I don’t have enough mental capacity for any type of relationship right now. I’m trying to figure out myself as well as manage my relationship with my parents and I’m overwhelmed and stressed already,” according to the complaint.
Lopez Xique responded that he was “confused” — saying, “I just want to be there for you. And you say you don’t want any other relationship, but I feel like you’re just looking for something different.”
Arseth told him “she just wasn’t ready for a relationship,” according to the complaint.
Lopez Xique replied, “Sorry if I’ve been pushy to hangout but I can tone it back we can just text and keep being that person we can talk to like we were.”
Location analysis of Lopez Xique’s phone showed that he was at Arseth’s apartment building beginning at 3:38 p.m. on June 16. He sent his last message to her from that location, and his phone stayed at the apartment until 4:49 p.m., according to the complaint.
Authorities were asked to check on Arseth after she couldn’t be reached, and officers got a key from apartment management and entered her home.
“They immediately encountered a gruesome scene,” the complaint says. “Victim was face down on her living room floor in a pool of blood with an apparent gunshot wound to her head.”
Arseth’s neighbor told police she had heard arguing at the apartment, specifically recalling a male who screamed, “How could you do this to me,” before eventually leaving at around 4:47 p.m. after the argument stopped. Prosecutors said Lopez Xique’s phone data shows he was at the residence and went to a hardware store afterward.
Lopez Xique is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 15.
