According to court documents, a Texan man on a date who paid $40 to park only to find out he had been duped inside a Houston burger business allegedly returned and fatally shot the man posing as an attendant before returning for dinner.
On Thursday, Erick Aguirre, who is accused of kἰlling 46-year-old Elliot Nix on April 11, appeared in court on murder charges. The amount of his bond was $200,000. Brent Mayr, who represents him, declined to say anything.
After returning to the Rodeo Goat from the parking lot, Aguirre, 29, allegedly told his date that “everything was fine” and that he only terrified the man. According to the court documents, Aguirre appeared uneasy as they were making their way to a table, so they decided to eat elsewhere.
Two days after police released images of the couple, Aguirre’s date phoned them to report the incident.
Rick DeToto, the woman’s attorney told NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston–
“She wanted to do the right thing. She wanted to make sure that she came forward and told the police what she knew.”
According to the probable cause statement, Aguirre and his date had parked their cars near the downtown restaurant when Nix approached them and said it would cost $20 to park each car. According to the police report, when Aguirre handed Nix the $40, a restaurant worker informed him that Nix did not work for the parking lot and had defrauded them.
A worker at a neighboring smoking store reportedly informed police that he witnessed Aguirre return to his vehicle, retrieve a weapon, and then chase down and kἰll Nix. Workers reported hearing a gμnsh0t just before 8 p.m. and then seeing Aguirre “nonchalantly walking back to his car with the gμn in his hand” before re-stowing it.
The affidavit states that after Aguirre’s walk, he and his date returned to the restaurant. After being transferred to the hospital, Nix tragically passed away. Aguirre was taken into custody this week; he is a resident of Corpus Christi, which is about 200 miles southwest of Houston.
He was still behind bars on Thursday. Houston criminal defense attorney Grant Scheiner, who is not involved in the case, said that Aguirre’s lawyer will likely be able to argue that the use of deἀdly force was allowed under state rules pertaining to the protection of property.
Scheiner added that Aguirre’s situation isn’t helped by the fact that he retrieved a firearm when there was no immediate danger and continued eating dinner after the alleged sh00ting.
In 2021, Texas legislators legalized concealed carry without a permit or the required background check or training.
Scheiner said-
“The problem is that gμns are just so widely available and there’s a lot of misinterpretation on when you can use deadly force. You have a lot of gμns and not very much knowledge.”
There have been other high-profile cases in the United States similar to Nix’s fatal sh00ting, in which seemingly peaceful events (such as going to the incorrect house, getting into the wrong automobile, or entering a neighbor’s yard to collect a basketball) escalated into gμnfire.
