Gabby Del Angel (L) and (C) the Jeep where she was shot (KENS screenshots); Roland Contreras (San Antonio PD)
Authorities in Texas have announced an arrest one month after a 33-year-old mother of three was fatally shot in a Jeep outside of a taco truck.
Roland Contreras Jr., a 32-year-old with a lengthy record of run-ins with the law, is accused of opening fire with a pistol and hitting Gabby Del Angel in the chest amid an argument on the night of April 6 with the driver of the Jeep, identified by cops as the victim’s husband and by family as Del Angel’s ex-husband. Cops said the driver, with whom Contreras reportedly had a history, was at the taco truck with Del Angel to buy food for their children. That’s when the dispute unfolded and the defendant allegedly pulled out a firearm.
“At approximately 9:30 pm on 4/6/2023, SAPD officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of SW Military for shots fired. When they arrived, officers located a deceased female inside a vehicle. During the investigation, officers learned that the victim and her husband stopped there to purchase food. The suspect, 32 year old Roland Contreras Jr., saw the victim’s husband in the parking lot and parked his car near the victim’s vehicle,” cops said. “Contreras pointed a handgun at the victim’s husband and started to run after him. The victim’s husband was able to get back inside his vehicle and backed up quickly in an attempt to leave and hit Contreras’s car. Contreras shot a handgun at the vehicle. The bullet struck the victim in the upper left chest area, and Contreras fled the location in his vehicle.”
“The victim’s husband provided a statement in which he positively identified Contreras. South Patrol officers located Contreras’s vehicle parked at his residence,” authorities continued. “They spoke with Contreras’s grandmother, who confirmed that he lived at the location and had been in possession of her now-damaged vehicle. An arrest warrant was applied for and granted, but Contreras was unable to be located.”
It took several weeks of additional investigation, but Contreras was finally tracked down on Wednesday, cops said.
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Del Angel’s sister posted in April that her loved one, a Southside ISD special education teacher who also worked with elderly assistant living facility patients, was the “innocent victim” of a senseless shooting.
“She is a single mother who leaves behind three beautiful children. She will never get to see them grow up, be there for their debuts, watch them graduate or get married,” Angeline Fuentes wrote. “A tragic day for us all. She was a wonderful sister mom and friend to all. She had the purest heart and cared so deeply about others. Her main wish was to always give her kids the best life possible.”
Bexar County court records reviewed by Law&Crime show Contreras’ bond was set at $200,000. A hearing is scheduled for June 6.
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Gabby Del Angel murder suspect arrested