3-year-old Texas boy shot dead by mom's boyfriend after he broke into home and sprayed bullets following tiff
HOUSTON, TEXAS: A three-year-old boy has been reportedly killed by his mother's boyfriend. The man, armed with an "assault-style" rifle, broke into the home of his girlfriend and the toddler was staying in during a domestic dispute. The Houston Police Department responded to a 911 call about shots fired at 7.06 pm on Friday, October 9, in the 6200 block of Almeda Genoa.
Authorities realized that a woman and her child had been shot and later found out that little Elijah Valencia Garcia was dead in the aftermath of this violent crime.
Chief @artacevedo provides an update on officer involved shooting at Almeda Genoa. #hounews https://t.co/mRjNfxgS6L
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) October 10, 2020
Houston Chief Art Acevedo in a news conference provided an update about the crime. The official said that the woman had gone to the mobile home of her ex-boyfriend to seek shelter from her current boyfriend when he broke in and sprayed bullets at the pair with an "assault-style rifle and multiple magazines."
Acevedo said that the woman was shot in her leg and hand and was transported and under treatment at the Memorial Hermann Hospital and is in stable condition while her son could not survive the injuries.
Police confirmed that the woman was embroiled in some sort of argument with her boyfriend and she immediately decided to leave the house and sought shelter at her ex-boyfriend's house. Her current boyfriend then showed up with an assault-style rifle and started shooting right after breaking into the home. Avecedo said that their patrol units had arrived within four minutes of receiving the call alerting them about the gunshots.
They tried to arrest the suspect who was still armed at the time and was refusing to comply with the police. A 25-year-old officer shot several rounds at the suspect who immediately died at the scene, cops said.
"What we found here was a female victim who had been shot by a suspect believed to be her current boyfriend. They had been involved in some kind of verbal altercation that’s still under investigation," Acevedo called the crime a "senseless act."
He added, "As a father, I think all of us here have children and young people we love, it’s heart-wrenching when you think about a little child’s life has ended here," Acevedo said. He then moved into a stirring speech, strongly criticizing the ever-changing society that has led to an increased number of crimes around the country.
"This city, like a lot of other cities, is seeing a tremendous uptick in gun violence… and a big part of it is Covid-19. Another part of it is we're just not holding people accountable," Acevedo said. He added, "We will never talk about this child again as a society… He will go into the annals of the victims of this country of gun violence and nothing will be done by members of the legislature by members of Congress to do more to stop this senseless act."
Acevedo then praised the valiant efforts of the officers who responded to the call also adding that society and the media need to talk more about victims of senseless crimes like this young boy. "These officers did heroic efforts tonight in terms of trying to save that baby, saving the mother and then trying to save the suspect. They will go on to work and their efforts and what they saw and what they did will be forgotten and never talked again," he said, according to The Sun.
A GoFundMe page has been created to raise money for the funeral expenses of Elijah. So far $1,310 has been donated by 32 donors.