TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris County, Jan 2019

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Kcookok said:
Woman gunned down while setting up for garage sale dies; suspect sought


Police need help.
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I am not sure this is a woman. When I watched the video on full screen, the shooter appears to only use their right hand in holding the gun to shoot. I don't know many woman that shoot that way, or that wouldn't show some kickback from shooting that way.

How horrific to be waking up, ready to make some money and enjoy your anniversary with your husband, and be killed! She was in her own yard, minding her own business, and the perp showed up with purpose and intent on murder. There wasn't hesitation in that truck pulling in and parking, no hesitation in the perp going up to the victim, no hesitation in shooting multiple times, and running back to the truck. I don't know if the perp was aware of who had cameras and what angles a camera might pick up, but IMO, that perp was well prepared to murder!

I don't think it was a random person, and thought they could rob someone setting up a yardsale. If that was the case, there wasn't much time in 'negotiating' the robbery. That gun was pulled quickly, and within seconds, the perp fired.
 
This reminds me of another tragic case that happened in Houston over the summer. A prominent and well respected cardiologist was shot and killed while riding his bike to his job in the Houston Medical Center in broad daylight. The killer was also on a bike and rode past the Dr and then turned and shot him. It was also caught on various cameras. It looked like a professional hit. It turned out to be the son of a former patient that had carried a 20 year grudge for the death of his mother on the operating table. His grief turned to blame and it festered until he committed murder for revenge.

Suspect in murder of former George H.W. Bush's doctor was patient's son who held grudge over mother's death, police say

My point is that when someone is unstable they can rationalize and commit an act like this without a lot of reasoning behind it. Something as small as complaining to someone about their unleashed dog while walking yours can be enough for an irrational mind to decide that they have a justified reason for taking a life. We see these kind of people involved in road rage violence all the time on the local news.
It would not surprise me at this point for the killer to be an unhinged person that has harbored a slight from the past that Elizabeth wasn't even aware of. It could be a co-worker or other acquaintance that she was friendly with and mentioned her garage sale in passing. It could even be a relative or inlaw.
 
2Hope4 said:
I am not sure this is a woman. When I watched the video on full screen, the shooter appears to only use their right hand in holding the gun to shoot. I don't know many woman that shoot that way, or that wouldn't show some kickback from shooting that way.
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As a routine shooter, a woman and a member of a shooting league, we do work on single hand shooting drills. Generally I’m stronger with my right hand than my left but I know other women in the league that are ambidextrous. Kick depends a lot on the style of the gun and size. My concealed kicks way more than my full size in the same caliber. My husband’s .45 is much more balanced with two hands but does kick. Caliber would be handy to know, although most people seem to carry 9mm, if it’s a .45 most likely a man, simply based on gun size. If a .22 was used (which can still be a lethal round) I’d say a woman.

ETA: there are many active women’s shooting leagues in the Houston area. It would take some practice to be comfortable with single hand shooting I think.

Also a .38 would lead me to believe it was a woman. Popular carry for women as well.

This all goes out the window if she swiped the gun out of the night stand, but inexperienced shooters wouldn’t be inclined to shoot one handed. Although I have seen men at the range try to shoot one handed sideways like the movies. That usually doesn’t work well for them.
 
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*JMO* said:
This reminds me of another tragic case that happened in Houston over the summer. A prominent and well respected cardiologist was shot and killed while riding his bike to his job in the Houston Medical Center in broad daylight. The killer was also on a bike and rode past the Dr and then turned and shot him. It was also caught on various cameras. It looked like a professional hit. It turned out to be the son of a former patient that had carried a 20 year grudge for the death of his mother on the operating table. His grief turned to blame and it festered until he committed murder for revenge.

Suspect in murder of former George H.W. Bush's doctor was patient's son who held grudge over mother's death, police say

My point is that when someone is unstable they can rationalize and commit an act like this without a lot of reasoning behind it. Something as small as complaining to someone about their unleashed dog while walking yours can be enough for an irrational mind to decide that they have a justified reason for taking a life. We see these kind of people involved in road rage violence all the time on the local news.
It would not surprise me at this point for the killer to be an unhinged person that has harbored a slight from the past that Elizabeth wasn't even aware of. It could be a co-worker or other acquaintance that she was friendly with and mentioned her garage sale in passing. It could even be a relative or inlaw.
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BBM: Something similar happened near me about a month ago. A guy was walking his leashed dog and encountered another guy with his unleashed dog. Leashed dog guy said something to unleashed dog guy who proceeded to punch leashed dog guy in the face. He fell back on the concrete, hit his head and died. Granted, the guy didn't stew about it for months and then hunt the other guy down, but sheesh, have some anger management skills!

BBM: On another note, situations like this kind of just make me want to stay at home with my cats and never leave. What if I unintentionally say something that might tip someone over the edge? Ugh. I just feel so bad for everyone affected by this terrible, senseless crime.
 
Showed husband video he says revolvers don’t kick like semiautomatic handguns because they don’t have the slide. I’ve only shot .22 revolver which has little to no kick, neither does the semi. He say it’s a hit. Why, no idea. Distract with one hand and shoot with the other.
 
Tbone144 said:
Showed husband video he says revolvers don’t kick like semiautomatic handguns because they don’t have the slide. I’ve only shot .22 revolver which has little to no kick, neither does the semi. He say it’s a hit. Why, no idea. Distract with one hand and shoot with the other.
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Did he give any reasons for thinking it's a hit?
 
Tbone144 said:
I’m not sure on the motive yet, it definitely feels personal. Also IMO I’m still leaning towards a female shooter. I think a woman would want to tell you why she’s shooting you, where as a man would have just pulled the trigger and left. Maybe I’ve watched too many movies but that’s my gut feeling.
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Only issue I have with it being a woman, is not the truck, or how they held the gun, but that they didn't have their hair up. Sounds silly but obstructing your own view and not wearing a hat or atleast a ponytail seems odd to me. When the shooter stood over her to fire the last shoot, their face was almost cover their face. Wouldn't suprise me if this was a wig..
 
I simply can not for the life of my imagine why neighborhood video has not all been searched for a license plate number and this person apprehended. Just no excuse. Unless they are still rattling through hundreds of reels turned in?
 
Yellow Rose said:
I simply can not for the life of my imagine why neighborhood video has not all been searched for a license plate number and this person apprehended. Just no excuse. Unless they are still rattling through hundreds of reels turned in?
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My amateur opinion and speculation is that they are probably connecting the dots between the gun wielder and perhaps another individual involved as well.

Speculation only
 
rosesfromangels said:
My amateur opinion and speculation is that they are probably connecting the dots between the gun wielder and perhaps another individual involved as well.

Speculation only
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Hopefully that as the case as either the shooter as assimilated back into their life or fled. Releasing too much info would make them a flight risk..
 
I came across this forum and this case has been bothering me. I don’t live in Texas but something about how it happened and every little thing I see and hear is just sticking to my brain. The first thing that keep playing over is when a new station was interviewing the mother in law the day the shooting occurred . Actually, a couple hours after. The mother in law said she called her son which is Elizabtheth’s husband ( Sergio) . The first thing she said was “What happened between you and Elizabeth?”. She didn’t ask OMG I heard something happened in your neighborhood are y’all safe ? Nothing to that affect . She said “ what happened between you and Elizabeth ?”.
Now why would she ask her son something like that? The other thing that gets me and makes me clinch me teeth is his demeanor, the day they were questioning him by the sheriffs car he just had a Scott Peterson look to him. Just this look like , he was bored . He wasn’t crying, or horrified, scared , just that off look to him. Guy!! Your wife was just shot four times and is hanging on to here life !!! I need something , I need panic ,red face , tears, desperation, something . Nope when I see him I still get that feeling soulless feeling about him.
It feels too planned . He leaves , the killer gets there 3 minutes later . She gets killed 2 days before their anniversary. I am just looking at it from what I’ve researched and read up on. I believe the investigators are following him and he just doesn’t know it. They always question the husbands but they don’t arrest them until months later. It feels like he just may have a mistress and they they got EB out of the picture :(
 
Well I don't think it was a robbery gone wrong. A garage sale that hadn't been set up yet ?
The actions on the security cams seemed very deliberate.
Maybe she was a witness to misdeeds by someone at her workplace ?
I need to read backwards and catch up.
 
Welcome cuea96! Glad you are here. Just a heads up so you don’t make some of the newbie mistakes I made. Until the victim’s family or friends have been named by police as suspects, we aren’t supposed to share our suspicions or weird observations about them. Even if it seems it might be what a lot of people are thinking. The reason is, this is a victim-friendly forum. If you do some digging, you can find other sites where they pass along rumors and it gets pretty nasty. So, even if it seems logical to discuss those closest to her, we just can’t. I hope you stay and follow along as this case progresses!
 
Mysti88c said:
Welcome cuea96! Glad you are here. Just a heads up so you don’t make some of the newbie mistakes I made. Until the victim’s family or friends have been named by police as suspects, we aren’t supposed to share our suspicions or weird observations about them. Even if it seems it might be what a lot of people are thinking. The reason is, this is a victim-friendly forum. If you do some digging, you can find other sites where they pass along rumors and it gets pretty nasty. So, even if it seems logical to discuss those closest to her, we just can’t. I hope you stay and follow along as this case progresses!
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Thank you
 
I wonder something with the arrival and departure of the shooter.. looking at the map of their house in their sub division, I wonder what the prior holding pattern was for the shooter's vehicle prior to the husband leaving.

  • Was it parked prior to see if he left?
  • Was he already leaving and the shooter entered the neighborhood and just drove to the destination.
  • Was the shooter's vehicle in the neighborhood "scouting" earlier in the morning checking to see if the the husbands vehicle had left?
  • Did the shooter just drive up by coincidence and was lucky the husband wasn't home?
Also, it reminds me of the Hania Aquilar case, how or why did the perpetrator choose a victim so deep in a subdivision. In Hania's case, it seems it was a shortcut/ crime of opportunity. Here it looks more like a destination/ timing situation.. as I say in alot of these cases, what are the odds.. Target was Outside, husband gone, Low chance of detection(No outdoor people leaving for work or highschoolers leaving for school @ 6:52am???)
Google Maps
 
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