HOUSTON — A Texas man on a date who paid $40 to park, handiest to be taught inner a Houston burger joint that he became scammed, allegedly went help and fatally shot the actual person posing as an attendant after which returned for dinner, in keeping with court files.

Erick Aguirre looked in court Thursday on murder charges within the April 11 dying of 46-year-extinct Elliot Nix. His bond became set at $200,000. His attorney, Brent Mayr, declined to observation.

Aguirre, 29, allegedly counseled his date “the entirety became dazzling” and that he simply the actual person after returning to the Rodeo Goat restaurant from the automotive car parking space. They then started strolling to a desk nonetheless left to eat someplace else after Aguirre looked wretched, in keeping with court files.

Aguirre’s date contacted police two days later after police had released photos of the couple, who had been identified by tricks to Crime Stoppers.

“She wished to assemble the simply thing. She wished to make obvious she got right here forward and counseled the police what she knew,” Rick DeToto, the girl’s attorney counseled NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston.

Police issue Aguirre and his date had parked their autos cease to the downtown restaurant when Nix approached them, pronouncing it would mark $20 each and every to park their autos, in keeping with a probable trigger affidavit.

Aguirre paid the $40 nonetheless became later counseled by a cafe worker that Nix didn’t work for the automotive car parking space and had scammed them, police acknowledged.

An worker at a cease-by smoke store later counseled police he seen Aguirre plod help to his automobile, grab a pistol and jog after Nix. The worker acknowledged both men went out of his look nonetheless he heard a gunshot earlier than 8 p.m., then seen Aguirre “nonchalantly strolling help to his automobile with the gun in his hand” earlier than inserting the gun help in his automobile. Aguirre then walked help to the restaurant and went inner alongside with his date, in keeping with the affidavit.

Nix became taken to a health heart, the set he later died.

Aguirre, who lives cease to Corpus Christi, positioned about 200 miles southwest of Houston, became arrested earlier this week. He remained jailed Thursday.

Houston criminal defense attorney Grant Scheiner, who’s no longer affiliated with the case, acknowledged that below affirm prison pointers linked to protection of property, Aguirre’s attorney is most continuously in an arena to assemble an argument that the utilization of lethal power became justified.

Nonetheless the circumstances linked to this case, in conjunction with retrieving a weapon when there became no instantaneous hazard after which persevering with with one’s dinner after the alleged shooting, will no longer help Aguirre, Scheiner acknowledged.

In 2021, Texas lawmakers accepted regulations allowing folks to lift handguns without a license, and the background take a look at and training that had long past with it.

“The self-discipline is that weapons are so as that broadly on hand and there’s quite a bit of misinterpretation on must it’s best to use lethal power,” Scheiner acknowledged. “You may per chance well presumably really hold quite a bit of weapons and no longer an excellent deal files.”

Nix’s fatal shooting comes after quite a bit of high-profile incidents around the U.S. the set nonviolent instances — going to a improper deal with, coming into into the substandard automobile or going into a neighbor’s yard to retrieve a basketball — devolved into shootings.