Posted on 12/25/2002 10:04:32 PM PST by lewislynn
Dec. 25, 2002, 10:29PM
Christmas morning turned tragic in northeast Houston Wednesday when a father shot and killed his 8-month-old daughter while apparently trying to shoot the girl's mother, police said.
"It's terrible that this happened on Christmas," said next-door neighbor Dawn Hickman, who frequently baby-sat the girl and her 2-year-old brother this summer. "She was a good kid."
Police said Eladio Camacho Navarro, 38, was arguing with his common-law wife at their home in the 7400 block of South Hall about 6:20 a.m. Wednesday. The father pulled a .38-caliber revolver and threatened the woman, whose name was not released by police. According to Texas driver's license records, Alma Delia Mosqueda, 32, lives at the address.
The woman started to turn away to try to protect herself and the baby, but the infant, Nayeli Navarro, was struck in the chest by a bullet and died at the scene, police said. The suspect fled the scene, and his whereabouts was still unknown Wednesday evening.
The mother and several relatives who were at the house to support her declined repeated requests for interviews.
Navarro has been charged with capital murder in the child's death.
According to public records, Navarro pleaded guilty in 1997 to felony forgery and was sentenced to two years in prison. The suspect is believed to be headed to Mexico, said Houston Police Department spokesman Martin DeLeon.
The child's death is the 253rd reported homicide in Houston this year.
The 1991 Ford Explorer that Navarro drove from the crime scene was found abandoned about 10 a.m. in an empty supermarket parking lot in the 3400 block of Bertrand.
Hickman and several other neighbors said they knew little about the reclusive family. Hickman said she called police earlier this year after she heard noises coming from the house that she thought sounded like a domestic disturbance. Police arrived, but the common-law wife declined to press charges. Hickman said the children she baby-sat did not seem to be abused.
Hickman said the suspect frequently drank with friends late at night or early in the morning, and a few times he and his friends fired guns in the air in apparent celebration.
She said both Navarro and his common-law wife had children from previous marriages.
No comment.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1715677
http://www.dallasnews.com/texassouthwest/ap/stories/AP_STATEGS_0753.html
Police search for man after child killed
12/25/2002
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — An 8-month-old baby was shot and killed Christmas morning during a fight between her parents. Police were searching for the child's father.
Houston police spokesman Martin DeLeon said 8-month-old Nayeli Navarro was shot as her mother, who was holding the baby, turned to protect herself from her common-law husband.
DeLeon said Eladio Camacho Navarro had threatened the woman with a .38-caliber revolver. The woman's name was not released.
Police said Navarro, 38, fled the home in northeast Houston. His sport utility vehicle was found abandoned in a supermarket parking lot more than three hours after the 6:20 a.m. shooting. Authorities believe Navarro was trying to escape to Mexico.
DeLeon said murder charges are pending.
Neighbors said the couple also had a 2-year-old son, who was in the house during the shooting, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition Wednesday.
Neighbor Dawn Hickman said she baby-sat the two children but knew little about the family.(ap.state.online.tx 0753 12/25/2002 19:03:09 )
Yeah, like it would be better if it happened on December 26?
He's only here to do the work Americans won't do.
Surprise, surprise, surprise.
Texas is one of the very few states that recognizes a common law marriage, or more precisely, a marriage without formalities. In Texas to provide that you have a common law marriage you can either file a Declaration and Registration of Informal Marriage or prove in court that a man and woman 1) agreed to be married, 2) after that agreement lived together in Texas as husband and wife, and 3) represented to others that they were married. While this may seem simple, providing a common law marriage is quite complex and in is not something that a pro se party can easily pursue on their own. This is a situation where representation by counsel is necessary.
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