Nashville, TN (STL.News) Hermitage Precinct detectives are investigating Wednesday night’s apparent murder-suicide involving suspected shooter Julio Escalon Ruiz, 39, and his girlfriend, Maria Lopez, 46, inside an apartment at 860 Murfreesboro Pike.
Ruiz’s 14-year-old daughter reported that the three of them had eaten dinner when Ruiz and Lopez went to a back bedroom together. The teen then heard gunshots and a scream followed by more gunshots. She entered the bedroom where she found her father and Lopez both shot. She called her mother who came to the apartment.
Officers located the couple in the bedroom deceased. Lopez had been shot multiple times. Ruiz was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. A handgun was recovered from Ruiz.
At the time of the shooting, Ruiz was free on $1,500 bond for a July 25 domestic assault involving Lopez. He admitted to slapping Lopez’s calf after an argument turned physical.