Fort Worth PD: Teens, 13 and 14, admit to killing woman over video game
FORT WORTH, Texas - Police have arrested two boys, ages 13 and 14, for the murder of a woman in Fort Worth.
The two juveniles allegedly broke into the woman’s apartment in the 8200 block of Calmont Avenue Friday afternoon.
Police believe they intended to burglarize the apartment and may not have expected 31-year-old Yesenia Gutierrez to be home. She was shot in the head.
Mid-day Friday, Gutierrez texted her husband, who was busy at work. She asked him to answer his phone, according to police. He texted back and asked what was wrong but never got a response.
Police say the woman's husband got worried when she wouldn't answer her phone and came home to find the door kicked in and his wife on the floor.
Police interviewed the juvenile suspects on Sunday. A police case synopsis states, "SUSPECT2 said that he and SUSPECT1 had looked through the window of the victim's apartment and observed a video gaming device. They thought that it would be an easy ‘lick.’"
The boys also told detectives Gutierrez handed over her iPhone willingly and that one of them fired a single shot when she turned her head. They later threw the phone away because they could not get it unlocked. Both boys are now charged with capital murder.
Based on witness accounts, police were on the lookout and stopped the teens for jaywalking later that night. They found a handgun and a silencer. Police say lab tests later matched shells from the gun with a spent shell found at the apartment.
In a message posted on her GoFundMe page, family members said Gutierrez was a brave and dedicated mother of three boys.
“Although she lost her life she fought hard to keep the burglars from entering the room where her 3-year-old boy slept,” family members wrote.
Neighbors are frightened after Gutierrez was murdered in the middle of the day in her own apartment.
"It's scary because it could have been us. It could have been anyone,” said neighbor Lizbeth Mendez. “You can't even feel secure in your own home."
Police say Gutierrez has three children. Two of them were in school. The 3-year-old was at home when the shooting happened, but he was not harmed.
People who live near the shooting are shocked by how it happened and that the people in jail are so young.
“It's parents that have to pay more attention to their kids and be involved with their kids and what they're doing you know,” said neighbor Liliana Huerta. “Scary to think it could happen to any of us at any time.
Fort Worth Police say the area of west Fort Worth has experienced an increase in crime, specifically gang violence. In the interviews with police, one of the suspects admitted to being in a gang. Police say they have increased patrols in that area.
The names of the suspects are not being released because they are juveniles.