Suspect Caught in Murder of Pregnant Woman Killed in Colorado, Baby Delivered
Monday, March 31, 2008
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Grand Junction police say they arrested a man suspected in the shooting death of a pregnant woman in front of an apartment complex.
Police say 39-year-old Lonnie Ray Herrera is suspected of shooting the woman once in the chest Sunday night. Grand Junction police say Herrera was arrested in Delta.
The woman died at a hospital where doctors delivered her baby by Caesarean section. The baby's condition was unavailable.
Police say Herrera and the woman knew each other. The woman's name has not been released. Police say the woman was in her third trimester.
The shooting happened in front of the Garden Village apartments.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343915,00.html
Slay suspect was barred from victim
Murdered woman had sought to lift order
By AMY HAMILTON
The Daily Sentinel
Monday, March 31, 2008
A pregnant Grand Junction woman who police say was shot to death by her boyfriend Sunday night in Grand Junction sought to lift a restraining order against her alleged killer days earlier.
Anna Maria Macias, 23, had a restraining order against her boyfriend, Lonnie Ray Herrera, 39, after he was accused of child abuse and assaulting her during a February incident in Clifton. On Wednesday,
Macias petitioned the court to lift that restraining order, but the Mesa County District’s Attorney Office recommended against the request and a judge agreed.
Less than a week later, Herrera, who was out of prison on parole, is being held on a $2 million warrant in connection with the shooting and killing of Macias in front of her two young children at the Garden Village Apartments, 2601 Belford Ave. At about, 11:15 p.m., witnesses found Macias lying in the parking lot bleeding heavily from the neck from an apparent gunshot wound.
Doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section on Macias, who was reportedly about 8 1/2 months pregnant. The baby was born alive, but may face brain injuries, and doctors at St. Marys’ Hospital said they were unsure if the baby would survive, according to an arrest affidavit for Herrera.
Herrera was arrested while walking in an alley in Delta near 11th and Meeker streets at about 10:30 a.m. Monday. Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee said police received a tip that Herrera was in the area and arrested him without incident after matching him to a description provided by Mesa County authorities.
McKee said Herrera was armed with a semi-automatic handgun when he was taken into custody. Herrera reportedly lived near the area where he was arrested, McKee said.
Herrera is expected to be transferred to Mesa County to face charges of murder, felony menacing, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, reckless endangerment and child abuse.
Macias’ 8-year-old daughter told police that Herrera was upset with her mother Sunday night because she would not spend the night with him.
The girl told police Herrera first drove her, her 4-year-old brother and her mom to a remote place where Herrera fired a gun into the air, the affidavit said.
The girl said Herrera then drove a van he had taken without permission that belonged to Macias’ sister to an apartment complex on Belford Avenue where her “Uncle Petey” lived. Herrera then shot her mom after the trio exited the van, the affidavit said, and Macias was dragged through the parking lot after she fell partially into the van while Herrera was pulling away.
Herrera was on parole after being released from a three-year prison term on Oct. 22, 2007, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. His prison term stemmed from a July 3, 2005, incident in Delta
in which he was accused of repeatedly ramming a Delta Police Department patrol car as officers were seeking him as a suspect in an assault at 555 A St., according to an arrest affidavit in that case.
Herrera had been out of prison for about four months when he was accused of striking Macias in the face with his hands when she attempted to leave a home at 516 31 1/2 Road, where Herrera’s mother, Annamarie Barela, lived.
Herrera was facing misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault, harassment, false imprisonment and child abuse in that case and the court had issued a restraining order between Macias and Herrera through March 20, 2009.
Barela, according to the affidavit, told police her son had been living with her, but she kicked him out because he and Macias were always fighting. Macias and her children were often at her house, Barela said, but they had not been living there, the affidavit said.
Herrera has served three separate prison terms for vehicular assault, assault on a peace officer and felony assault, for charges dating back to 1988, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Authorities have arrested him 16 times since 1988 in the counties of Eagle, Delta, Mesa and Garfield for a range of charges including driving under the influence of alcohol, domestic violence, assault, menacing, failure to appear in court and possession of a weapon by a previous offender, CBI records show.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/conte...1a_murder.html
She is 23 with an 8 and 4 year old children and living with a 39 year old man. He beat her repeatedly, yet she sought to have the restraining order lifted. The judge rejected lifting it, but this asshat walked through that worthless piece of paper and murdered her in front of her two children, she was 8 1/2 months pregnant and they do not think the baby will survive, and if he does, he was oxygen starved.
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