A Dallas man convicted of killing his 17-year-old girlfriend has been sentenced to life in prison.
The Collin County District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday that 19-year-old Armando Diaz Jr. will serve a life sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, whom he shot 10 times during an argument at their shared apartment.
Dallas police responded to the residence after 911 calls on February 6, 2022, reporting gunshots. They found a teenage female with multiple wounds to her chest, face, and back in a second-floor walkway at the apartment complex.
Officer Arnet Brantley performed life-saving measures on the victim, but she died at the scene.
Diaz — who later confessed to the shooting, blaming it on intoxication and a heated domestic dispute — shot his girlfriend with a .45-caliber Glock modified to make it fully automatic.
Collin County Medical Examiner Dr. Stephanie Burton later testified that four of the shots Diaz fired came while the victim was curled up on the ground.
Following the shooting, Diaz fled the scene before police arrived and didn’t turn himself in for four days. He initially attempted to mislead Detective Chris Walton but ultimately confessed to the crime.
Diaz’s mother was aware of the murder and had helped him flee the scene, a press release from the DA’s office stated. It is unclear if his mother faced any charges.
A jury unanimously found Diaz guilty. He will be eligible for parole after he has served 30 years.
“This man brutally shot his defenseless, teenaged girlfriend 10 times, at least four times while she was on the ground in a fetal position. And the jury rightly saw through his lack of remorse,” stated Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis after sentencing.
The teen’s murder is another example of the city’s violent crime issues, as the Dallas Police Department faces a shortage of officers. There are currently just over 3,100 officers employed by the DPD, a number Police Chief Eddie Garcia said he would like to see an increase by several hundred.
While DPD works to beef up its ranks, Downtown Dallas might look to neighboring Deep Ellum and Fort Worth for solutions.
In September, The Dallas Express reported on a new dedicated police unit for Deep Ellum, and in neighboring Fort Worth, a private security firm helps patrol the downtown area, which has a much lower crime rate than downtown Dallas.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks