Background: Law enforcement officers investigate at the crime scene in Harris County, Texas (KHOU/YouTube). Inset left: Guillermo Rosales (Harris County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Enelsi Pavon (KTMD/YouTube).
A family in Texas is reeling after family members say a man gunned down his ex-girlfriend and her father because he was “obsessed” and believed he “couldn’t get another girlfriend.”
Guillermo Mondragon Rosales, 22, has been charged with murder in connection with the death of 53-year-old Leonel Pavon, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the shooting of Pavon’s 19-year-old daughter.
Rosales lived with his then-girlfriend and her family for about a year until the relationship ended roughly two months ago, the family told Houston Telemundo affiliate KTMD.
“He was obsessed and thought he couldn’t get another girlfriend,” Luz Marina Aviles told area CBS affiliate KHOU, adding that Rosales allegedly had a history of domestic violence.
On Monday morning, a neighbor of the victims on the 5400 block of North Redell Road in Baytown, Texas, said she heard gunshots before a truck sped away. Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area — which is just east of Houston — and found the victims injured.
Pavon was pronounced dead at the scene, while his daughter was flown to a hospital in critical condition.
Officers began investigating and identified Rosales as the suspect. However, he was not in the area.
With help from other agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and searches through license plate readers, officers found Rosales about 200 miles northwest in the area of Waco, Texas. He was detained and placed in the McLennan County Jail.
As of Tuesday, Gonzalez said, the woman remained “hospitalized in serious condition.” Rosales was being held in the Waco-area jail, “awaiting transfer to Harris County.”
The sheriff added that the defendant’s motive “appears to be Rosales’ anger over the ending of his dating relationship” with the woman.
“This is another painful reminder of the devastating impact intimate partner violence can have — not only on victims, but on entire families,” Gonzalez said in announcing the charges. “A father lost his life, and a young woman is fighting to recover. Please keep this family in your prayers as they face an unimaginable loss and a difficult road ahead.”
