A Las Vegas man drove around with his dead girlfriend, who was buckled into his passenger seat, for almost two hours after “accidentally” shooting her in the head, police say.
Julio Vasquez, 24, was arrested in the eastern section of Las Vegas, just a few miles from the world famous strip, on Sunday.
The body of 24-year-old Gissell Perez, who worked with differently abled children, was found inside the suspect’s blue Ford Mustang, according to an arrest report.
Vasquez was later charged with the open murder and disobeying a police officer, before appearing in court on Wednesday morning, according to Clark County records. As a result, he was remanded without bail.
Vasquez phoned a friend at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday asking to meet her in the desert to help to get rid of a body, according to police documents.
The woman, who remains anonymous, urged the defendant to take Perez to the hospital. Vasquez refused over fears he would be seen on camera, authorities said.
The friend dialed 911 almost 45 minutes later and told dispatchers that Vasquez, who she said appeared “panicked,” had shot his girlfriend and was driving around with her body in the eastern part of the city, per the documents.
The woman told police that Vasquez admitted to shooting to his friend but told her that “it was an accident”.
She added that that the couple had begun arguing when Perez grabbed his gun, forcing him to snatch it back from her.
Vasquez, now armed, turned the gun towards the victim after placing it beside his own head, noting he was “testing her” when the gun went off, allegedly shooting her in the back of the head, police said.
An officer from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they spotted Vasquez’s vehicle, after he’d been driving around with the corpse for about 90 minutes.
After refusing to stop, police engaged in a pursuit which ended in Vasquez crashing into another vehicle and attempting to flee the scene.
Upon detaining the defendant, medical personnel pronounced Perez at the scene, police said.
The Clark County coroner’s office confirmed the victim sustained a gunshot wound to the back of the head and ruled the manner of her death a homicide.
Vasquez and Perez’s relationship was “on again off again” and “toxic,” the friend told police. She also said he always carried a firearm.
Perez’s uncle, Gabriel Lopez, 27, refutes that his niece’s death was an accident.
“I don’t believe it. What we see in the report and what we hear happened, it doesn’t really seem like an accident to me or to anybody else,” he told 8 News Now. “Call up friend to get rid of the body, that’s not right. That’s not right. That right there is trying to hide your evidence,”
The heartbroken uncle lamented over the loss of his niece, and was left wondering why Vasquez allegedly pulled the trigger.
“She didn’t let anybody put her down in any type of way. She went through life hard. It’s just a tragedy how we lost her,” he said. “The big question is why, that’s about it.”
While a woman who says she is Perez’s cousin commented on her Facebook page, writing: “Forever in my heart my beautiful cousin.”
“I love you so much rest easy pretty angel,” wrote another person.
Perez’s family has also spoken out on a GoFudMe page set up on Monday, raising almost $14,000 of its $30,000 target to cover funeral costs – which is expected to be held on February 2.
“Gissell was a 24-year-old young woman with many plans ahead of her, which she could no longer achieve because someone took her life unjustly and without mercy, someone cut off her wings,” a post on the fundraiser reads.
“We would like a little of your help and your generosity for funeral expenses to help… the family and to reflect on this very difficult time that the family is going through, an immense pain that it caused the family.”
