Journalism paper
Homicide in Countryside Estates neighborhood
By Stephanie Shields
Wednesday night around 2:00 am, the seemingly peaceful Countryside Estates neighborhood of El Paso, TX was disturbed when, Robert Garcia, 47, was shot and killed after breaking into the home of Maria Tinajero, 28, and attacking her.
Police reports say that neighbor Robert Garcia broke into Tinajero’s home, when she was in her bedroom in bed. Garcia then jumped on top of her, causing her to grab her .38-caliber revolver from her night table, and shoot Garcia.
Tinajero told detectives she fired two shots, the first one hit a wall; the second one was the one that struck Garcia in the neck, killing him. Garcia broke into her house through the window, after tampering with the screen. He was wearing a white mesh bag over his head, and held a knife to her throat. Garcia had no previous criminal record.
Robert Garcia, an unemployed carpenter, was married to Nancy Garcia, and was described by neighbors to be a “normal, friendly, and caring person,” so it was a surprise to discover the horror of this incident. Garcia lived only four houses away from Tinajero and was one of the first neighbors to greet Tinajero when she moved to the area. Investigators report that there was no reason to believe that they had any affairs or feelings of dislike towards each other.
Maria Tinajero, a chemist for Bausch and Lomb, had just moved to Countryside Estates last March when she bought her first home. She was very excited about living in the area. When asked about living in her new house here, she said: “I loved it from the first moment I saw it. I told all my friends how much I loved it here,” so it is a shame that something so traumatizing happened to the happy new home owner.
When police asked her to talk about the shooting, Tinajero began to cry. After a long pause she said it would be too painful to continue. She said: “I understand that I did what I had to do, but I’m never going to be a normal person
By Stephanie Shields
Wednesday night around 2:00 am, the seemingly peaceful Countryside Estates neighborhood of El Paso, TX was disturbed when, Robert Garcia, 47, was shot and killed after breaking into the home of Maria Tinajero, 28, and attacking her.
Police reports say that neighbor Robert Garcia broke into Tinajero’s home, when she was in her bedroom in bed. Garcia then jumped on top of her, causing her to grab her .38-caliber revolver from her night table, and shoot Garcia.
Tinajero told detectives she fired two shots, the first one hit a wall; the second one was the one that struck Garcia in the neck, killing him. Garcia broke into her house through the window, after tampering with the screen. He was wearing a white mesh bag over his head, and held a knife to her throat. Garcia had no previous criminal record.
Robert Garcia, an unemployed carpenter, was married to Nancy Garcia, and was described by neighbors to be a “normal, friendly, and caring person,” so it was a surprise to discover the horror of this incident. Garcia lived only four houses away from Tinajero and was one of the first neighbors to greet Tinajero when she moved to the area. Investigators report that there was no reason to believe that they had any affairs or feelings of dislike towards each other.
Maria Tinajero, a chemist for Bausch and Lomb, had just moved to Countryside Estates last March when she bought her first home. She was very excited about living in the area. When asked about living in her new house here, she said: “I loved it from the first moment I saw it. I told all my friends how much I loved it here,” so it is a shame that something so traumatizing happened to the happy new home owner.
When police asked her to talk about the shooting, Tinajero began to cry. After a long pause she said it would be too painful to continue. She said: “I understand that I did what I had to do, but I’m never going to be a normal person