Inset: Erick LaPlante (Miami-Dade Corrections). Background: Apartment complex in the 1100 block of NE 215th Street in Miami, Fla. (Google Maps).
Enraged that his girlfriend may have been talking with another man, a 33-year-old Florida man allegedly placed a gun in his girlfriend's mouth and told her "tell me why I shouldn't kill you" before firing a shot that nearly hit her.
Erick LaPlante faces a slew of charges including attempted murder, armed robbery, battery by strangulation and aggravated assault. According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, the victim was taking a nap with her infant daughter when LaPlante barged into the room and grabbed her phone on Tuesday at their apartment in the 1100 block of NE 215th Street in Miami.
He allegedly jammed the barrel of a gun in her mouth and demanded she unlock the phone. She said that she told him the password out of fear and he began going through the phone.
LaPlante then confronted her about a conversation he found on the phone before slamming her to the ground, cops wrote. He allegedly straddled her and pressed her arms on her neck, preventing her from breathing. When she said she couldn't breathe, he responded "good," cops said.
The defendant allegedly pointed the gun at her and asked her if she was seeing another man.
"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you," LaPlante said, per cops.
He fired the gun, narrowly missing her with her baby not far away, the affidavit stated. Then, he picked up the casing and showed it to her.
"You see this," he allegedly said. "You see I'm not playing."
LaPlante allegedly began pistol-whipping the victim throughout her body, including her face, which caused a cut to her lip. He also choked her, causing her to feel like she was going to lose consciousness, she alleged.
The victim's sister arrived at the apartment and LaPlante allegedly ordered the victim to take a shower to hide her injuries. Instead, the victim apparently grabbed her baby and ran to her sister, who helped her out of the apartment and called cops.
Officers later arrested LaPlante and took him to the Miami-Dade County Jail, where he remains without bond.