An 18-year-old woman has been charged with manslaughter after Houston police said she fatally shot her boyfriend while recording a video on an iPad.
Emily Abigail Perez is accused of killing 18-year-old Diego Cornejo at a residence on Fondren Road, near Bellerive Drive, in southwest Houston, on 11 March.
Police were called to the property at about 9.15am and found Cornejo in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Houston teen charged after fatal shooting
According to court documents, Perez told investigators that she and Cornejo had been handling a gun he had recently bought and were playing with its laser and light.
She allegedly said she believed the weapon was unloaded when she pointed it at Cornejo and pulled the trigger.
Perez also told police she had been filming a vlog on an iPad. Investigators reviewed the footage, which reportedly captured the shooting.
Charging documents state that Cornejo can allegedly be heard saying “esta cargado” before the gun was fired. Police translated the phrase as meaning “charged” or “loaded”.
The Houston Police Department said its investigation found that Cornejo had been shot while he and Perez were handling the firearm. The case was referred to a Harris County grand jury after consultation with the district attorney’s office.
Perez was charged in the 183rd Criminal District Court. She was arrested on Wednesday, 23 September, by members of the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders’ Task Force and booked into Harris County Jail.
Her bond was set at $50,000. The allegations have not been tested in court.
