A Texas mom admitted to running over and killing her husband with her SUV — but claimed she was drunk and only meant to “hit” him.
Alina Gonzalez-Morelos, 37, “voluntarily” turned herself in to the Pasadena Police Department and “confessed” to mowing down her husband, 42-year-old Leonardo Mendoza, with her Chevy Tahoe following a heated argument on Sunday morning, KTRK reported.
Gonzalez-Morelos had left a party and was drunk when she returned to her home in Pasadena — about 15 miles southeast of Houston — and got into a verbal exchange with her husband, Pasadena Police Officer Darby Slack said.
“As far as we know, there were just some marital issues going on. She’d come home around 2 o’clock that morning,” Slack told the outlet.
“The children overheard them having an argument inside of the room. He exited, and she followed.”
Following the argument, Mendoza left the home and began walking down the street where his car was parked when a witness at a nearby gas station said they saw “a black Tahoe exit the roadway, jump the curb, and strike the male that was walking through the parking lot.”
The witness said that after hitting Mendoza, the SUV fled the scene.
Police said they were called to the scene around 3:30 a.m. for a “fail to stop and render aid” incident.
There, they found Mendoza suffering from serious injuries and rushed him to HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast, where he later died from his injuries, Slack said.
Pasadena detectives then began a “thorough investigation” of the fatal hit-and-run.
Mendoza’s family members spoke to investigators, who revealed the SUV in question matched the description of Gonzalez-Morelos’ black Tahoe.
After surrendering to authorities, Gonzalez-Morelos allegedly admitted to investigators that she accelerated her SUV onto the sidewalk and ran over her husband.
While she told investigators that she did mean to “hit” her husband with the SUV, she maintained that she did not intend to kill him.
The argument that allegedly sparked the violence is believed to have begun over a text message, according to court documents obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
However, the contents of that message have not been made public.
Gonzalez-Morelos has since been charged with first-degree murder.
She remains in custody pending transfer to the Harris County Joint Processing Center.
Pasadena police said the case has now been handed over to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
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