Husband charged in wife’s slaying
A man has been charged with capital murder after police say he fatally shot his estranged wife in the front yard of her Baytown home as her children were inside and police were responding to a report of an armed intruder, authorities said Monday.
The suspect, a registered sex offender who police later identified as Elrey Gonzalez, 39, was slightly wounded when an officer responded to the violence by opening fire outside the victim’s home Sunday night, officials said.
The accused shooter’s brother described the slain woman, 41-year-old Elva Gonzalez, as “a very beautiful human being inside and out.”
“She had nothing but love for Elrey — and that was really her only crime,” Dennisrey Gonzalez, 44, told the Chronicle.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office accepted a charge of capital murder after Elrey Gonzalez confessed to his involvement in the killing during interviews with detectives, Baytown police said in a news release Monday night.
The brazen killing happened just before 6 p.m. Sunday in the 1900 block of Mississippi, according to Baytown police spokesman Lt. Steve Dorris. Baytown is about 25 miles east of
“She had nothing but love for Elrey — and that was really her only crime.”
Dennisrey Gonzalez, brother of accused shooter Elrey Gonzalez
downtown Houston.
Officers were dispatched to the home after a person called 911 pleading for help because an armed intruder had barged into the residence, Dorris said.
When officers arrived, they saw the woman forced out of the home by her estranged husband, who was armed with a handgun, police say.
In the front yard, Elrey Gonzalez fired multiple times at the woman, fatally wounding her, according to police. Then an officer fired at least one shot, grazing the suspect.
He surrendered to police at the scene and was taken into custody.
Investigators later learned that Elva Gonzalez’s children, ages 16 and 21, were at the home at the time of the shooting. One of them had called 911. Both were unhurt.
The officer who shot the suspect has been placed on routine administrative leave, according to police.
Elrey Gonzalez was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for his wound and released to police custody.
The accused shooter is a registered sex offender, according to the state’s registry. Harris County records show Gonzalez was convicted in 2005 of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14. The state registry says the victim was a 3-year-old girl.
In 2014, he was arrested and charged with possessing a firearm as a felon, court records show. That case was dismissed in 2015.
“We condemn his actions,” Dennisrey Gonzalez said, speaking for his family. “We don’t condone senseless acts of violence — and we loved Elva like our own sister.”