Man wanted for killing 27-year-old ex-girlfriend commits suicide, Harris Co. sheriff says
Nitzi Valencia was shot and killed late night on Nov. 10, 2021 while visiting with a neighbor of her ex-boyfriend.
SPRING, Texas (KTRK) -- A man wanted for allegedly shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend in a Spring neighborhood was found dead in New Mexico, but not before confessing to his role in the murder, authorities said.
On Friday, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said 24-year-old Jose Gallegos was on the run as the suspect in the murder of Nitzi Valencia, 27, who was shot to death late Wednesday night in the 22100 block of Diane Drive.
Investigators charged Gallegos with murder.
Then, early Friday, the sheriff said Gallegos made contact with the county's homicide unit and confessed to the murder.
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The video above is from ABC13's original Nov. 11, 2021 report on the murder.
According to Gonzalez, Gallegos told detectives he was in New Mexico and that he would be dead by the time police located him.
New Mexico State Police found Gallegos' vehicle on tribal land near Albuquerque. He was found inside the vehicle, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Family members told Eyewitness News that Valencia was living at a home with her ex, but moved out about two or three days prior and was staying with her mother.
Valencia had come back to visit some friends who live next door to Gallegos, authorities said.
That's when the ex-boyfriend made his way inside the home and shot her and another man, according to investigators. The bullets also fatally struck a dog inside the home, the surviving victim told ABC13.
The injured man, who wasn't immediately identified, later said he was grazed by bullets and was treated at a hospital for wounds to his head and hand.
In the wake of the tragedy, Valencia's family created a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.
