Background: A section of the 500 block of Roosevelt Road in Creve Coeur, Illinois (Google Maps). Inset left: Caitlynn Girkin (Tazewell County Sheriff's Office). Inset right: Adolfo Cazares (Rux Funeral Homes).
A police officer in Illinois shot and killed her roommate after she said she sent Snapchat photos to him of her holding a gun to her head, according to authorities.
Caitlynn J. Girkin, 27, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Adolfo Cazares, jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show. She was arrested and booked in the Tazewell County Jail on Tuesday.
On March 10, Girkin and Cazares were at their home on the 500 block of Roosevelt Road in Creve Coeur, Illinois, a village just outside of Peoria in the center of the state. She was working as a police officer with the Creve Coeur Police Department at the time.
At about 2:15 a.m., Girkin called 911 and said a man had shot himself with her personal gun, per court records obtained by local CBS affiliate WMBD. Police officers arrived to find Cazares in the home's hallway with sweatpants partially pulled down and blood coming from his nose, mouth, and chest.
There was also reportedly a handgun on Girkin's bed. As Girkin was a local police officer at the time, investigators with the Illinois State Police took over the investigation to avoid a possible conflict of interest.
In the ensuing weeks and months during the investigation, Girkin's story apparently kept changing.
First, the defendant stated she and Cazares had had sexual relations in the past, authorities noted. On this particular day, she first said Cazares entered her room with a gun and raised it at her â before she reached for it and heard a "pop."
"The defendant stated that she asked Cazares if he had shot himself, and Cazares stated that he had," an affidavit stated, adding that Girkin said the man's sweatpants fell when he hit the floor.
Later, however, the woman said the shooting victim had pulled his sweatpants down when he entered her room, and after he raised the gun at her, she took it and shot him. Six weeks after that, Girkin's story allegedly changed again, with her detailing how the gun was already on her nightstand when he entered the room.
She said her roommate moved toward her and tried to touch her leg, WMBD reported. She said she pushed him back, grabbed the gun, and he pleaded, "Don't shoot me." Girkin said she was afraid he would sexually assault her, which authorities claimed was contradicted by her previous comments that he had not made any sexual advances toward her this day.
The defendant said her roommate went to her room because she sent Snapchat messages showing her holding a gun to her head and with a gun in her mouth, per authorities.
Girkin is expected back in court on Thursday.
Cazares' obituary says he "loved to play Magic with his friends in his free time" and "enjoyed traveling and loved playing video games with his two nephews." He also "loved his cat Bookero like it was his child" and "was funny and sweet to everyone and was dearly loved by all his family and friends."
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