According to court documents, when a Texas man learned that he was scammed out of $40 by a fake Houston parking attendant, he left his date in the restaurant and then retrieved his gun from his vehicle. He then allegedly shot him before returning to dinner.
Erick Aguirre is facing murder charges for the death of Elliot Nix, 46. Aguirre was in court on Friday, where a judge set the bond for Aguirre at $200,000. His attorney Brent Mayr declined to make any comments.
Aguirre (29), allegedly told his date that “everything is fine” and he only scared him after returning from the East Downtown neighborhood known as EaDo to the Rodeo Goat Restaurant. Aguirre then looked uncomfortable and they left the restaurant to go eat somewhere else.
Aguirre’s date contacted the police two days after photos of her and Aguirre were released by the police. The couple had been identified through tips given to Crime Stoppers.
She wanted to do what was right. Rick DeToto told KPRC that the woman wanted to be sure she told the police everything she knew.
Investigators have said that Aguirre met his date for dinner on April 11 in downtown Houston. Nix approached them after they had parked their vehicles near the restaurant. He claimed to be a parking guard. According to an affidavit of probable cause, he said that parking each vehicle would cost $20.
Aguirre paid $40. A waiter told the couple later that Nix had been scamming parking customers, according to police.
A witness told police that he had seen Aguirre get out of his car and grab a gun, then chase Nix. He said that both men left his sight, but heard a shot before 8 p.m. According to the affidavit, he claims to have seen Aguirre “nonchalantly walked back to his vehicle with the gun in hand”, before storing the weapon in the car and returning to his dinner date.
Houston Police responded at 7:55 pm on April 11 to a report of a shooting at 1300 Chartres Street. Elliot Nix was found with a gunshot injury. He was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Aguirre told his date that he didn’t like the restaurant, and they left.
DeToto, speaking to KPRC, said that the woman knew that her husband was upset and that he had gone after the person who allegedly scammed the couple. But they went out for dinner and the defendant told them that the restaurant was not comfortable. They left.
Houston Police officers responded after receiving a report of a shooting. They found Nix unconscious with a gunshot injury. Police said that paramedics took him to the hospital where doctors declared him dead.
His date didn’t know what happened until the following day when the police released images of surveillance footage identifying the couple in their investigation as persons of interest. She was not charged because she cooperated with the police.
Aguirre was arrested this week. He is a Corpus Christi resident, located approximately 200 miles southwest of Houston. He was still jailed as of Thursday.
