Erick Lee Aguirre (Harris County Sheriff’s Office)
A 29-year-old man in Texas has been arrested for allegedly taking a break from his dinner date at a Houston restaurant to kill a man who had just scammed him out of $40. Erick Lee Aguirre was arrested last week and charged with one count of murder for fatally shooting 46-year-old Elliot Nix earlier this month, court records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, a witness at about 7:56 p.m. on April 11 was driving on Charles Street when he saw a man lying on his back with his body in the right lane and his head resting on the curb. The witness said the victim — later identified as Nix — was still conscious and he could hear the man say, “They shot me.”
Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the scene and transported the victim to Memorial Hermann Hospital Medical Center. Unfortunately, a short while after arriving at the facility, Nix succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 8:43 p.m., police say.
An autopsy performed by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the torso. Specifically, the medical examiner said that Nix was shot in the upper right back area and had a projectile removed from his upper right shoulder that was believed to be a hollow-point bullet.
After speaking with multiple witnesses and reviewing security camera footage, investigators said they determined that Aguirre fatally shot Nix after learning that Nix had scammed him out of $40 in parking before he met a woman for a dinner date.
The woman, who reached out to authorities after police publicly released a photo of her and Aguirre taken just before the shooting, told investigators that she was Aguirre’s girlfriend and was meeting him for dinner that evening.
After parking their cars in a lot across the street from the Rodeo Goat restaurant, they were approached by Nix, who told them it was $20 per car to park, which Aguirre paid. However, when they reached the restaurant, an employee told them that Nix “is a scammer and he does not work for the parking lot.”
The girlfriend said that Aguirre then “sprinted to his car” while she waited at the restaurant. When Aguirre returned a short while later, he allegedly told her he “just scared the guy and everything was fine.” They went back into the restaurant but left before being seated because Aguirre looked uncomfortable and suggested they eat somewhere else, which they did.
Another witness allegedly told police that he saw Aguirre grab a handgun from his car and chase after the suspect, both of whom ran out of view. He then heard a gunshot and saw Aguirre “nonchalantly walking back to his car with the gun in his hand” and placed it back in the vehicle.
Aguirre appeared in court on Thursday where a judge set his bond at $200,000, jail records show. He remains in custody at the Harris County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on June 27.
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