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A 30-year-old Edinburg man accused of gunning down his girlfriend outside a McAllen convenience store while her 3-year-old daughter was in the backseat of her vehicle has been indicted and is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.
Fortunato Barrera Jr. is charged with murder for the death of 28-year-old Janet Vichique after Barrera had been stalking her, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Barrera is also charged with violating a protective order, child endangerment and stalking.
At 5:12 p.m. on June 18, McAllen police responded to the 2300 block of Maple Ave. in reference to a shooting.
When they arrived, they found Vichique dead in the driver’s seat of her vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds.
“The victim’s 3-year-old daughter was in the back seat when the murder occurred,” the affidavit said.
Witnesses told police that they saw Barrera leaving the scene and provided a description of his vehicle.
Barrera was later found and pulled over by officers in the 3600 block of N. Bicentennial Blvd.
Once he was detained, Barrera said, “Just take me already, you know what I did.”
Surveillance footage obtained by police shows Barrera parking his vehicle next to Vichique’s, getting out of the vehicle, opening her door, shooting her and fleeing the scene.
The affidavit states that Barrera had been arrested earlier in June for stalking Vichique and he had been served a protective order that prohibited him from committing family violence.
Barrera remains jailed on $11,262,000 in bonds.
