What did Erick Aguirre do? Charges explored in fatal Elliott Nix shooting  

On April 11, 29-year-old Erick Aguirre allegedly murdered 46-year-old Elliott Nix while on a date. Prosecutors claimed that at the time of the slaying, Aguirre was already on probation for an aggravated assault in South Texas.

He has been charged with murder and his bond has been set at $200,000.

Trigger warning: This article concerns gun violence, the reader's discretion is advised

Click2Houston reported that a warrant for Erick Aguirre's arrest was issued on April 15. He was taken into police custody on Tuesday, after being arrested in the Corpus Christi area.

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Details of the allegations against Erick Aguirre

As per the Associated Press, Erick Aguirre was out on a date on the day of the murder. The couple had visited an area near Lamar Street in Houston. They parked their cars separately before they were approached by Elliott Nix, who told them he was a parking attendant and asked for a total of $40.

CBS reported that Aguirre went to a nearby corner store, where he retrieved the cash. Afterwards, he went with his date to a restaurant called Rodeo Goat, where a waiter informed them that a scammer was suspected of impersonating a parking attendant in the area.

Realizing that Nix had stolen from him, Aguirre went to his car, grabbed a pistol and pursued the supposed scammer. An employee at a nearby smoke shop said that Aguirre proceeded to fatally shoot Nix, before leaving his body on Chartres street.

After the slaying, Aguirre put his pistol back in the car, before returning to his date. His date, however, was not informed that he had just murdered Nix. The suspect supposedly told his date that he had only scared the fake parking attendant.

The attorney for Aguirre's date, Rick DeToto, said that she only discovered that Aguirre had murdered Nix in the days that followed.

DeToto said:

“She knows that he was upset, and he went after the person that allegedly scammed them, but they went to have dinner, and at some point, the defendant said he was uncomfortable with the restaurant and they left."

On April 13, Aguirre's date chose to talk to the police about the murder. DeToto told KPRC:

"She wanted to do the right thing. She wanted to make sure that she came forward and told the police what she knew."

Grant Scheiner, a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney, said that Aguirre's lawyer will most likely claim that the use of deadly force was justified since the suspect was scammed.

However, he added that the use of firearms is only permitted if the suspect has reason to believe that he is in physical harm's way. Scheiner blamed the killing on the wide availability of firearms, as well as a lack of knowledge regarding gun laws.