On a Wednesday morning, 26-year-old Gabriella Gonzalez and 22-year-old Harold Thompson were walking near a service station in the West Oak Cliff neighbourhood of Dallas. Gonzalez returned the night before after getting an abortion in Colorado, to the detriment of Thompson, who then killed her by gunshot. (Abortion is banned in Texas.)
Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, was with her boyfriend, 22-year-old Harold Thompson, on Wednesday when he tried to put her in a chokehold, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She had returned the night before from Colorado, where she had gone to get an abortion.
“It is believed that the suspect was the father of the child,” the affidavit said. “The suspect did not want (Gonzalez) to get an abortion.”
Surveillance video from the parking lot shows Gonzalez “shrugs him off,” police said, and the two continue walking. Thompson then pulls out a gun and shoots Gonzalez in the head. She falls to the ground and Thompson shoots her multiple times before running away, the affidavit said.
Mileny Rubio was horrified to witness the murder of her sister whilst driving her boyfriend to work.
“I heard gunshots and immediately knew it was her and when I looked back, it was her. She was on the floor,” [Gabriella’s sister Mileny Rubio] said. “I was in shock. I couldn’t touch her. I couldn’t move. My body froze. I just called my mom and I couldn’t even explain to her.”
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“My sister was very beautiful. She was so sweet,” Rubio said. “It’s so heartbreaking because everybody loved her.”
Harold Thompson had a history of domestic violence, some of which stem from coercive control.
A search of Thompson’s criminal history shows prior charges of domestic assault, which resulted in a warrant being issued for his arrest prior to the shooting. Gonzalez' mother said that report was officially filed in March by her family but they never heard back from Dallas Police after multiple attempts.
“I looked at her beaten, he no longer let her talk to anyone, he took everything from her,” Gonzalez’ mother told NBC 5 in Spanish. “He took his phone, he managed everything for her. She was scared."
Court records report Thompson had also abused Gonzalez while she was pregnant.
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“He was so angry that she wanted to get away from him,” Rubio said. “She would always tell me that she wanted to leave, but that she couldn’t.“
At the time of the shooting, Thompson had been charged with assault of a family member, who accused him of choking her in March.
The affidavit from March does not specifically name Gonzalez as the person who was assaulted. But it does say the woman told police that Thompson “beat her up multiple times throughout the entirety of their relationship” and that Thompson told police the woman was pregnant with his child at that time.
The woman “reiterated that she is scared of the suspect because he had made threats to harm her family and her children,” according to the affidavit.
Currently, Thompson is being held at the Dallas County Jail without bond. Gonzalez leaves behind three young children.