HOUSTON – The family of a young woman gunned down by a pair of burglars is pleading for justice as the killers remain on the loose.
"She was a good girl. I don't understand how those guys could take my daughter's life," Yolanda Aviles told Channel 2.
It happened at an apartment complex in the 7300 block of Kingsway at Oak Hill in Southeast Houston.
Police said two men were seen just before midnight breaking into a Camaro belonging to 22-year-old Carla Marizol Carias.
Her boyfriend, Angel Casarrubias, 23, and her boyfriend’s father heard noises outside and began yelling at the men, police said. The pair went to confront the burglars, not knowing Carias had followed them outside.
The thieves ran to a black four-door sedan where a driver was waiting.
The driver of the getaway car held a gun out of the window and fired one shot, hitting Carias in the chest. She was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she died.
"When I heard the shots, I heard the scream and I think that's when she got shot,” neighbor Rudy Rios said. “The paramedics were there and they were trying to give her oxygen and all of that, but you could tell that it was useless."
The men got away. Police are reviewing surveillance video in hopes of finding the thieves and the shooter.
“As the getaway driver was driving away, the suspect pointed a gun. The driver of the vehicle pointed a gun outside the driver's side window, made a comment and fired one shot,” Mandy Arroyo, with the Houston Police Department, said.
Carias was a student at San Jacinto College. Her mother says she worked two jobs to buy the Camaro.
Casarrubias spoke with Channel 2 and said he and Carias had been together for four years. He loved her dearly and he should’ve been the one shot.
“Just (like) any beautiful, young person and lots of hopes and dreams for the future,” Carias’ cousin, Myra Zelaya, said “She was happy with Angel and waiting for the holidays like any normal person.”
Carias’ family said she worked a full-time job, attended college and enjoyed spending time with loved ones.
“If they wanted her car, take her car. If they wanted her stuff, take her stuff. Why did you have to pull out a gun and kill her? They took so much from us,” Zelaya said.
Police said car burglaries are an ongoing problem on the street. Residents told police they had seen the getaway car in the area before.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
A neighbor talks about the deadly shooting on Kingsway in Southeast Houston. KPRC2
Posted by KPRC2 Cathy Hernandez on Wednesday, December 14, 2016
