Inset: Alissa Mae Huerta (Nampa Police Department). Background: The area in Idaho where Huerta allegedly struck and killed another woman with her car (Google Maps).
An 18-year-old Idaho woman is accused of "intentionally" running down another young woman with her car after a parking lot confrontation that investigators say was the culmination of a monthslong feud over a shared romantic interest.
Alissa Mae Huerta, who allegedly confessed to the crime in Snapchats that were deleted and later recovered, was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of 19-year-old Jade Aliyah Ramirez, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Nampa Police Department, officers responded at about 4:20 a.m. Sunday to a report of a pedestrian who had been struck by a vehicle in a parking lot along Caldwell Boulevard in Nampa. Authorities found Ramirez suffering life-threatening injuries and rushed her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police initially said there was not enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime. But as detectives continued investigating, they learned there had been "an altercation between Ramirez and the suspect" before the collision and ultimately determined that "the act of striking Ramirez with a vehicle was intentional."
Court documents obtained by the Idaho Statesman provided additional information about the violent attack.
In a probable cause affidavit, investigators allege the confrontation stemmed from a dispute that began in February after Ramirez confronted Huerta for engaging in an "intimate relationship" with the father of Ramirez's child.
The women had reportedly been exchanging "numerous threatening text and voice messages for months" before Huerta and her sister agreed to meet Ramirez in a Nampa parking lot and fight. Huerta's sister told investigators she intended to fight Ramirez, per the Statesman.
Huerta told detectives Ramirez arrived carrying a baseball bat and struck the Honda several times, shattering the driver's-side window and damaging the windshield, police reportedly wrote. Huerta claimed she tried to leave and "did not intentionally aim her vehicle at Ramirez."
Detectives said witness video and evidence recovered from Huerta's cellphone contradicted that account.
"The front bumper collides with Jade's legs," the affidavit states. "Jade is thrown onto the hood of the Honda, and it appears that her left leg gets stuck in the front driver's side wheel well. It then appears the Honda accelerates while turning and navigating around the adjacent light pole with the passenger-side door swinging freely."
The vehicle then pulled Ramirez beneath it, leaving her lying motionless in the parking lot, police said.
Investigators further alleged that Huerta made several incriminating statements in videos recovered from her cellphone.
Detectives reportedly found a deleted Snapchat audio recording in which Huerta admitted, "I ran her over, though. I'm not going to lie."
In a second recording, she can allegedly be heard saying, "My sister said like I deada— ran her over."
The affidavit further alleges that Huerta later admitted she ran over Ramirez, even though she initially denied intentionally striking her.
Huerta appeared in court following her arrest and remained jailed as of Wednesday evening, records show.