Man confesses he pushed girlfriend off Fort Worth bridge 7 years ago, warrant says
A man admitted to police that he pushed his 18-year-old girlfriend off a Fort Worth bridge in 2013, according to an arrest warrant issued Aug. 24.
In July 2013, Sarah McKinney’s body was found in the Trinity River. She left behind a daughter, one brother and three sisters, according to her obituary.
McKinney’s then-boyfriend, Justin Michael Azocar, 31, was booked into the Fort Worth Jail on Aug. 31.
McKinney’s death was initially ruled as an accidental drowning after an autopsy, but the medical examiner noted the death was suspicious, according to the arrest warrant for Azocar. In September 2013, an investigator interviewed Michael Smith, who was a suspect in an unrelataed assault case. Smith told investigators that Azocar admitted to him that he pushed McKinney off a bridge and killed her.
Police interviewed Azocar later that day. He told investigators that he had been dating McKinney, but the last time he saw her, she left for the store and never came back. He said a man named Cloud admitted that he and McKinney were sitting on the railing of a pedestrian bridge and Cloud asked McKinney if she “wanted to go swimming.” McKinney said she could not swim, and Cloud shoved her into the water.
Police could not find any record of a person named Cloud, according to the arrest warrant. Azocar took a polygraph test, which was inconclusive.
On July 27, 2020, patrol officers responded to a call for an unconscious person, who was identified at Azocar. He told an officer that he had killed McKinney in 2013, and he was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for medical help. The lead investigator in McKinney’s case interviewed Azocar later that day. Azocar told him that on July 30, 2013, he and McKinney were sitting on the hand rail of a pedestrian bridge and started arguing because she thought he was cheating on her.
He pushed her, and she fell into the river below; Azocar told the investigator he did not mean to push her that hard. He said he made up the person named Cloud because “in a way he was trying to admit that he did it,” according to the arrest warrant.
This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
