Texas teens' relationship 'was just so toxic.' It ended in murder-suicide, police say
As Clarissa Riojas, 18, finished up her senior year at Highlands High School in San Antonio, her friends urged her to get out of the abusive relationship she was trying to salvage.
"I told her all the time," Riojas' friend Adrean Coy, 19, told the San Antonio Express-News. "You're just barely about to graduate high school. You don't need to be worried about this. You can always find someone else."
Finally, last week, she listened. And her life was cut short for it, according to police.
She broke up with Louis Nickerson, 19, a football player at the same high school. She had not been answering his repeated calls since the break-up, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said in a news conference Wednesday.
"We have a very, very serious and tragic incident that happened here [Wednesday] morning," he said.
Wednesday at about 8 a.m., Nickerson brought a gun to the apartment on the Southeast Side of town at which Riojas and her younger sister were staying. First, he tried to shoot through the lock on the front door.
When he got inside, he shot Riojas to death, then slipped out of the apartment while her sister called 911. He shot and killed himself in a nearby wooded area, McManus said.
Police involved in the massive manhunt for Nickerson found him lying just a few hundred yards from the apartment in the 3900 block of Southeast Military Drive, with the gun still in his hand, according to KENS.
"We learned this morning of the shocking deaths of two seniors at Highlands High School, which occurred this morning off campus," read a statement from San Antonio Independent School District spokeswoman Leslie Price obtained by KSAT. "What happened is tragic, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of these students. A crisis team of counselors was sent to the school to support students who are trying to cope with the news of these deaths. Staff and faculty are being watchful for anyone at the school who may need assistance."
The two started dating about a year and a half ago, McManus said. Riojas was a member of Highland High School's Brigade Dance Team, which won Grand National Championships the last two years, according to the school website.
According to his Facebook profile, Nickerson was originally from New Orleans and moved to San Antonio after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
Angela Zetina, a friend of Nickerson's, told the Express-News it was known in school circles that the couple's relationship was a dysfunctional one.
"It was just so toxic," Zetina told the newspaper.
McManus warned parents about the dangers of domestic violence, not only in the household but among their teenage children as well.
"I'm the father of an 18-year-old myself, and I know the whole dating routine," he said. "I guess the lesson learned the hard way is if you're a parent with a daughter who's dating, make sure you pay attention to the status of that relationship once it's over."
This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 8:43 AM with the headline "Texas teens' relationship 'was just so toxic.' It ended in murder-suicide, police say."