Alejandro Dominic Martinez and Rosa Marie Mora (Bexar County Jail), Rosalinda Martinez (Chapel Hill Funeral Home)
A 20-year-old father in Texas has been arrested nearly a month after an argument between him and his girlfriend over a handgun led to their 8-month-old daughter being shot and killed. Alejandro Dominic Martinez was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of reckless injury to a child resulting in serious bodily injury in the death of young Rosalinda Martinez, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Rosalinda's mother, 21-year-old Rosa Marie Mora, was arrested last month and faces the same reckless injury charge as Martinez. Mora was reportedly pregnant at the time of the incident.
Police say that shortly after Martinez picked up Mora from work on April 12, the two got into a heated argument in the car, according to a sworn affidavit of probable cause obtained by San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS. It was not immediately clear what they were fighting about initially, but the squabble eventually began to center on money and a handgun that allegedly belonged to Mora but was in the possession of Martinez. At some point during the argument, Martinez reportedly stuffed the firearm into his waistband.
As the argument continued, police say that Mora got out of the vehicle in front of her sister's building, the Merida Apartments, located in the 2100 block of NE Loop 410. Mora then reportedly picked up Rosalinda and continued squabbling with Martinez.
Martinez was still sitting in the vehicle while Mora was standing outside of the vehicle holding their daughter when the shooting occurred, the affidavit reportedly states. Mora allegedly demanded Martinez return the gun to her, reaching into the vehicle and trying to wrestle the firearm back from him. As the two struggled, the gun reportedly went off and both Mora and Rosalinda were struck.
KENS previously reported that Mora and Rosalinda were rushed to a hospital that was only blocks away from the Merida Apartments by members of Mora's family. The infant reportedly suffered a gunshot wound to her torso. Unfortunately, the child succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Mora, who was reportedly struck in the hand by the gunshot, was admitted to the hospital and released several days later. She was arrested shortly after being released. The pregnant woman's unborn child is reportedly doing fine.
Several members of Mora's family told KENS that Martinez has a history of violence against Mora.
At the time of the shooting, Martinez was out of jail on bond for a previous assault against Mora that took place in February that resulted in him being charged with one count of assault on a pregnant person, court records show. Conditions of Martinez's pretrial release prohibited him from having any contact with Mora and from being in possession of a firearm.
Martinez reportedly fled from the scene with the firearm and had been on the run from law enforcement for nearly a month before investigators found him at a motel located in the 11500 block of IH-35 North where he was arrested without incident, San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT-TV reported.
In addition to the charge of injuring a child, Martinez was also charged with one count of violating the conditions of bond/protective order.
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