On Tuesday, a man was arrested and charged with murder after he allegedly interrupted a date night to shoot and kill a parking lot scammer.
Erick Aguirre, 29, was apprehended in the vicinity of Corpus Christi, Texas and was arraigned Thursday with a $200,000 bond.
According to the New York Times, the incident occurred on April 11 when Aguirre and his date, Melanie Castillo, arrived to Rodeo Goat restaurant in separate cars. A man then approached them and asked for a $20 fee for each car. Aguirre paid the fee, and they proceeded to the restaurant, where a staff member alerted them that the man was a scammer.
Castillo stated that Aguirre ran back to the cars while she waited outside the restaurant. A witness from a nearby smoke shop reported seeing him take out a pistol from his car and then hearing a gunshot. After returning to the Rodeo Goat with the gun, Aguirre told Castillo that he had only “scared the guy”.
The couple then left the restaurant for another location. Castillo’s lawyer, Rock DeToto, said that she was “devastated to learn of the death” when she saw her photo on the news and found out she was a person of interest.
Legal analyst Brian Wice clarified that the Texas Penal Code and most other states’ codes do not permit using deadly force in such a situation, regardless of whether it was theft or not.
When South Central officers responded to a shooting call at 1300 Chartres Street Tuesday, they found the 46-year-old Elliot Nix unresponsive and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital. A court date is scheduled for June 27.