A scorned Illinois woman is accused of shooting her boyfriend after discovering he had another lover — and then calling his paramour via video chat as he lay in a pool of blood, prosecutors said.
Rosa Lagrone, 34, is facing charges of first-degree attempted murder following the Friday shooting that left her 27-year-old boyfriend hospitalized with a bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said Sunday.
DuPage County prosecutors said at a bond hearing Sunday that Lagrone shot her boyfriend, who was not immediately identified, during an argument about another woman he had been dating, the Naperville Sun reported.
Lagrone then video-chatted the other woman on Facebook as her boyfriend lay on the floor bleeding, DuPage County Assistant State’s Attorney Mandy Meindl said.
Tests were being done Sunday to determine if the victim had any remaining brain activity. He was shot once in the arm but the bullet became lodged in his spine, leaving him on a ventilator.
A murder charge could be filed against Lagrone if he succumbs to his injuries, Meindl said.
Lagrone, who told investigators the gun went off accidentally, found out about the victim’s relationship with another woman a week earlier, prosecutors said. The shooting took place as the victim tried to pack his bags to move out.
Footage of the video chat between Lagrone and the other woman appears to show the 27-year-old laying in a pool of blood while speaking, although the clip does not have audio, the Tribune reported.
It also shows someone off-cam believed to be Lagrone, a mother of four, kicking the man twice, Meindl said at the bond hearing.
The woman then called a relative and asked for them to pick up her children — ages 6, 10, 13 and 14 — who she had already put outside in a car as the pair argued, prosecutors said.
“You have to come get the kids right now,” Lagrone allegedly said, according to the Tribune. “I’m going to jail for the rest of my life.”
A judge set bail for Lagrone at $1.5 million. In addition to attempted murder, she’s also facing charges of aggravated battery involving the discharge of a firearm and aggravated domestic battery.
“Just days removed from Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, we are faced with this tragic shooting of a young man near Naperville,” Sheriff James Mendrick said in a statement. “Domestic violence cases are up in DuPage County, nearly 50 percent over this same period last year and this cannot be tolerated.”
Lagrone is due back in court on Dec. 7. If convicted of attempted murder, she could face up to life in prison. It’s unclear if she’s hired an attorney.
