Inset top: Roland Contreras (San Antonio Police Department). Inset bottom: Gabrielle Felis Del Angel (Obituary). Background: Law enforcement investigate a shooting outside of a taco stand in San Antonio, Texas (KSAT/YouTube).
A man in Texas has learned how he will spend the coming decades of his life for shooting and killing a woman after yelling at her husband at a taco stand.
Roland Contreras, 35, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of 33-year-old Gabrielle Felis Del Angel, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for trying to shoot her husband, the Bexar County Criminal District Attorney's Office announced.
The jury took roughly 30 minutes to find Contreras guilty, regional ABC affiliate KSAT reported.
On the night of April 6, 2023, Del Angel and her husband were getting food from a taco truck on the 1800 block of Southwest Military Drive in San Antonio. The husband was waiting in line while Del Angel was in their Jeep.
Suddenly, Contreras "approached" the husband, pulled out a gun, and yelled at him. The husband ran back to the Jeep and tried to rush away from the scene with his wife, according to police.
However, Contreras continued to pursue the man, and, "as they attempted to escape, Contreras fired his weapon, striking [Del Angel] in the chest and inflicting a fatal injury," the DA's office said.
The husband reportedly drove to a nearby gas station where he called for help. However, Del Angel was later pronounced dead.
Police said Del Angel was not Contreras' intended target, and that the husband later identified him as their attacker, recognizing him because of an ex-girlfriend, according to KSAT. Video footage recorded by the outlet as law enforcement investigated the crime scene shows a large bullet hole in the side of the Jeep's driver's side window.
Authorities tried to arrest Contreras later that night, even sending tear gas into his home. However, when they entered, they could not find him. He wound up being arrested about a month later.
"Today we reaffirm our stand against violence," Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said. "Our goal will continue to be seeking justice on behalf of victims and holding offenders accountable for their unlawful actions."
Del Angel was a special education teacher with three children, according to her obituary. "She was a loving and caring mother who adored her children more than anything in this world. Everything she did was for them," it states.
Comments