A Texas woman was shot dead at point-blank range as she set up a garage sale to help pay for an anniversary trip with her husband, authorities said.
Elizabeth Barraza, 29, was in the driveway of her Tomball home around 7 a.m. Jan. 25 getting ready for the sale when someone emerged from a black pickup truck, approached her and exchanged some words before opening fire and taking off, local station Click 2 Houston reported.
Barraza was pronounced dead at Memorial Hermann Hospital — the same facility where she and her husband, Sergio Barraza, had spent many hours volunteering and doing charity work — the distraught husband said at a news conference.
“My wife, Liz, was a beautiful person … with the kindest of souls,” Sergio Barraza said. “Tragically, someone stole that away from us on the morning of January 25. I’d just left for work that morning, and I’m just so happy that the last words I got to say to my beautiful wife were, ‘I love you.’”
“I don’t understand how someone could do this to her,” he added. “I had to trade our fifth anniversary for her funeral. We need justice for Liz. I need justice for Liz. I love you, Liz.”
Barraza’s dad, Bob Nuelle, said his daughter was trying to make a little more spending money ahead of the anniversary trip, which was scheduled for two days after her death, according to the report.
“We never imagined a life without her and we still can’t,” Nuelle said. “We never will.”
Neighbors told the station that they called 911 after hearing a series of shots.
“It was three gunshots, real fast, one after the other,” local Candy Ellis recalled. “Waited a couple of seconds and then it was another gunshot.”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating whether the shooting was a random or targeted attack, and whether the shooter was a man or woman. Crime Stoppers of Houston is offering a $20,000 reward for any information leading to the charging or arrest of the person behind the slaying.
“You have my word we’ll do everything possible to bring justice to Elizabeth’s killer,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told the station.
Barraza was an avid fan of Star Wars and Harry Potter. More than 100 loved ones and supporters waved lightsabers and wands at a memorial service held for her last week.
Money raised through a GoFundMe page called “Justice for Liz” will be donated to the Peter Mayhew Foundation — named after the actor best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars series.
