Dallas woman shot and killed over abortion tried to leave abusive boyfriend, family says
A 22-year-old man is accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend because he was upset that she had had an abortion, according to the Dallas Police Department. The victim’s family says she was trying to leave the abusive relationship.
The suspect had a history of domestic violence against the victim — including an active warrant for his arrest — and they got into an argument over the abortion just before the shooting, police said.
Dallas police responded to the shooting in the 800 block of South Walton Walker Boulevard around 7:40 a.m. Wednesday.
Police found Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, with multiple gunshot wounds. She died at the scene.
Gonzalez’s sister said she saw Gonzalez and the suspect, Harold Thompson, walking together, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The sister said after passing by Gonzalez and Thompson, she heard a gunshot. The witness saw Gonzalez on the ground.
Another witness told police they saw Thompson put Gonzalez in a choke hold before shooting her. The witness tried to help Gonzalez but was unsuccessful, according to the affidavit.
Surveillance video obtained by police shows Gonzalez and Thompson walking. The video shows Thompson attempted to put Gonzalez in a choke hold, but she “shrugged” him off and they continued walking through a parking lot, according to police.
Thompson then pulled out a gun and shot Gonzalez one time in the head. She fell to the ground, and Thompson shot her several more times before he fled the scene, police said in the affidavit.
Thompson is facing a murder charge.
In the investigation, police discovered Gonzalez had gone to Colorado to get an abortion and returned the night before she was shot. Police believe Thompson was the father of the child and he didn’t want her to get the abortion.
Thompson had an active warrant against him for choking Gonzalez before the day of the shooting. The affidavit for that arrest warrant was dated April 14 and includes allegations that Thompson abused Gonzalez repeatedly.
“Complainant indicated that suspect has beat her up multiple times throughout the entirety of their relationship,” according to the affidavit. “The complainant stated the last incident that went undocumented was in January of 2023 where suspect violently attacked her and left her bruised up.”
Gonzalez also told police that Thompson threatened her family and her kids.
Police interviewed Thompson in March before the warrant was filed, the document states, and he denied choking Gonzalez.
Thompson declined to speak to police after his arrest on the murder charge, court documents say.
“I looked at her beaten, he no longer let her talk to anyone, he took everything from her,” Gonzalez’s mother told KXAS-TV in Spanish.
“He was so angry that she wanted to get away from him,” Gonzalez’s sister Mileny Rubio told the NBC station. “She would always tell me that she wanted to leave, but that she couldn’t.“
Gonzalez had three children. Rubio started a GoFundMe for expenses for her funeral, which was scheduled for Monday.
This story was originally published May 12, 2023 at 6:43 PM.
