April 7, 2008

Reckless behavior, that's how Corpus Christi Police are describing the shooting death of a 14 year old girl. Tiffany Gonzalez was removed from life support on Sunday. She was shot in the head on Friday afternoon at an apartment in the 4500 block of Corona Drive. Police are now upgrading charges from aggravated assault to manslaughter.

Tiffany didn't attend school at Martin Middle School for very long, but Monday outside the school, the family planned a candle light vigil. Before Martin, she was a student in Flour Bluff. About a third of Martin 8th graders sought out grief counselors today to deal with their friend's unexpected death. Flour Bluff also had counselors on hand to deal with any students who felt like they needed to talk about the shooting.

On Friday, police got the call from Tiffany's boyfriend. When they arrived they found the 8th grade girl barely alive with a gunshot wound to her head. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Investigators say they later found out only two people were in the apartment at the time of the shooting: the suspect, Tiffany's 15 year old boyfriend, and Tiffany. Police say the boyfriend initially told officers Tiffany had shot herself while the two were in the bedroom together. But, police later determined he was holding the gun at the time it discharged, and the victim was trying to take the handgun away from him.

We asked police what was a 15 year old doing with a gun?

"We are looking into that," says Corpus Christi Police Lieutenant Billy Breedlove. "He was a gang member, that's part of the gang life."

Breedlove says the small caliber weapon wasn't the parents' gun.

"We've determined the mom did not know he was in possession of that."

The 15 year old appeared before Judge Carl Lewis' juvenile court Monday afternoon. We learned he was on probation for making a terroristic threat. His attorney says this was just a tragic accident, and the teen wants to go home to his mom.

We spoke to some members of the suspect's family. They declined to go on camera, but told us they dispute any claim their loved one is an active gang member. They told us that after his stint in Juvenile Boot Camp, he had changed, wanted to go to school, and get a job. A man claiming to be the boy's pastor told us the boy had found God, and was going to church.

During Monday's detention hearing, we learned the teen had not tested positive for any drugs. His attorney asked that he be afforded the right to see a grief counselor, since he just learned of his girl friend's passing an hour before the hearing. The small juvenile, looked to be in shock as he stood next to his mother as his attorney addressed Judge Lewis. The judge paused for some time, the courtroom quiet, as he considered what to do with the teen. He told the prosecutor he wants to know what kind of case the DA is going to bring before him by Friday, otherwise Judge Lewis said he could release the teen into the care of his mother.