The victim is Veronica Soto, 30, a married mother of two. She died in a driveway in southwest Harris County after being shot just a few blocks away.
Veronica was riding in a vehicle with her husband when she was shot. In the minutes prior to her death, investigators say, he was involved in an argument with another driver near Addicks-Clodine and Camino Del Sol. Detectives say Veronica Soto and her husband were boxed in by two other vehicles. They say Mark Trevino, 20, was driving one of the other cars, and they add that that he stopped at a house, retrieved a weapon and opened fire on the car Veronica was in, striking her in the head.
Trevino's mother said, "I know my son didn't mean to do that, but he was just protecting his brother."
Trevino's family asked us not to show their faces, fearing retribution. His brother was at the scene Wednesday night and says Mark was followed home by the victim's husband after the confrontation a few streets away.
"When he came in here he was like, there's a dude out there with a pistol," Mark's brother said. "He pulled a pistol out on us. He's tripping."
The brother claims Veronica's husband was the aggressor and that he shot first, narrowly missing him as he came out of the house. A bullet hole is visible in their garage.
"Self-defense -- that's all it was, sir," Mark's brother said. "My little brother was just protecting me, himself and my family."
The victim's husband brought her to her sister's house nearby on Las Brisas. That's where someone called 911 and where Veronica died.
Investigators at the scene had his hands bagged, testing for gunshot residue. Veronica's husband has not been arrested, nor charged with any crime. Mark Trevino is under arrest, pending a charge of murder.
