Vanessa Sanchez Lopez charged in deadly shooting of 17-year-old boyfriend in Chanhassen
CHANHASSEN, Minn. -- An 18-year-old woman is charged with second-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of her 17-year-old boyfriend last week in Chanhassen.
The Carver County Attorney's Office says Vanessa Sanchez Lopez was formally charged Monday.
The victim was identified Monday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office as Manuel Ernesto Bernal Jurado, of South St. Paul.
According to the criminal complaint, police tried to pull over a speeding vehicle in Eden Prairie on the early morning of Feb. 2. The chase ended at Fairview Southdale Hospital, with two male passengers getting out of the vehicle and informing police that a boy inside had been shot in the head.
Officers noted that there was an entry wound on the gravely-wounded boy's cheek, as well as gun powder burns, "indicating a very close in range shot."
The criminal complaint states that Lopez and Bernal Jurado went to a movie on the night of Feb. 1, then picked up a couple of friends before heading to another friend's house in Chanhassen. The friends told investigators that the couple had been arguing throughout the night over infidelity, and they each had fired a handgun belonging to Bernal Jurado out of Lopez's car window during the drive.
One of their friends told investigators that Lopez grabbed the gun from Bernal Jurado when they arrived outside of the Chanhassen home, and Bernal Jurado warned her it was loaded. Lopez then allegedly aimed it at his face and fired.
Police say Lopez later confessed that she "intentionally pulled the trigger," and they say a preliminary breath test she took at the hospital indicated she was almost twice the legal blood-alcohol limit that morning.
Lopez's bail is set at $5 million without conditions and $2 million with conditions. She is next expected in court on March 2.
