Texas Man Accused of Killing Girlfriend after She Traveled Out-Of-State for Abortion
Harold Lavance Thompson, 22, is accused of shooting dead 26-year-old Gabriella Gonzalez in front of multiple witnesses on May 10, the day after police said she returned from Colorado, where she traveled to obtain an abortion.
A Texas man was arrested Friday for allegedly gunning down his girlfriend after learning she'd recently traveled to Colorado to terminate her pregnancy, police said.
Harold Lavance Thompson, 22, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Gabriella Gonzalez, according to probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law and Crime. He's also been charged with one count of assault on a family or household member by impeding breathing.
He is currently being held at Dallas County Jail, and was denied bond at a Thursday hearing, according to CNN.
According to the court documents, officers with the Dallas Police Department found Gonzalez dead of multiple gunshot wounds at an address in the 800 block of Walton Walker Boulevard after receiving reports of a shooting on the evening of May 10.
Thompson was arrested at the scene and declined to give a statement to police, per CNN.
A witness to the shooting told police that Thompson put the young woman in a "chokehold" before shooting her dead. The witness told police that she wasn't able to call for assistance because she didn't have her cellphone, and was unsuccessful when she "attempted to give help" to the mortally wounded Gonzalez.
Melanie Rubio, Gonzalez' sister, also witnessed the pair walking together before the shooting, police said. Shortly after she passed the couple, Rubio told police, she heard the sound of gunfire and turned to see her sister on the ground.
Surveillance footage from nearby buildings corroborated the witness' accounts, per the documents:
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"The suspect then attempts to put [Gonalzez] in a choke hold but [she] shrugs him off," police wrote. "[Gonzalez] and the suspect continue to walk through the parking lot. Suspect Thompson then pulls out a firearm and shoots [Gonzalez] one time in the head."
After Gonzalez fell to the ground, per the affidavit, Thompson "fired multiple more shots into [her]."
After the shooting, police wrote, they learned that Thompson was likely "the father of [Gonzalez' unborn] child" and "did not want [Gonzalez] to get an abortion." She had just returned from Colorado, where she traveled to get the procedure.
Thompson was the subject of an active arrest warrant for previously assaulting Gonzalez, police said, according to Law and Crime.