Garland police

Deadly Road Rage Shooting to be Referred to Grand Jury

Strong emotions from Fernando Espinoza to the person who shot and killed his brother-in-law during a suspected road rage incident in Garland.

"And I hope he suffers each and every day on his conscious, on his family knowing that he took another person's life," Espinoza said. "A father who was actually working hard to take care of his kids, his family."

On Monday Francisco Pasillas' family staged a protest at the Garland Police Department and demanded a meeting with the chief of police to better understand why the man who shot and killed Pasillas, and ultimately walked to into the police station to admit heโ€™d done so, hasnโ€™t been arrested.

Francisco Pasillas, 33, was driving a white Cadillac Escalade, with his wife, south on Centerville Road towards Northwest Highway Thursday afternoon. At some point he had a confrontation with another driver in a truck.

Both drivers were traveling on Centerville Road, toward Northwest Highway.

"In the incident we are receiving information on they were cutting each other off," Garland Police Public Information Officer Lt. Pedro Barineau said.

Witnesses say it was near the intersection of the two roads when someone in the truck shot at the Escalade hitting Pasillas.

"Someone could just come down and shut it down his life so easily. So senseless. In the blink of an eye he is gone," Espinoza said.

The victim turned on Northwest highway, where he later crashed out and was found by rescue crews. He later died at the hospital. Witnesses say the gunman continued straight on Centerville Road, towards LBJ Freeway.

Pasillas' wife was also in the car at the time, however she was not hurt.

Shortly after 3 p.m. on Thursday, Garland police said a person involved in the shooting voluntarily came to the police station and was questioned by detectives.

However, Garland police announced no charges have been filed.

"In this case, after talking to all of the people involved, all of our evidence points to the best course of action is to refer to the grand jury to make a determination," said Captain Patrick McCully with Garland Police Department.

But family said she is still hurting emotionally.

"She saw him. All his blood was on her shirt. Obviously, she is the one most hurt," Espinoza said.

That pain will continue because now two children are left without a father.

"She still has to come home right now and explain to her son and her daughter that her dad's gone," Espinoza said. "Never going to see him again."

"Once weโ€™ve interviewed everybody, try to determine motive, try to determine intent, determine all the elements of a criminal case, and we have to prove all those elements to get the best case we have," said McCully. "And so in this intense, the decision was that the grand jury would make that final determination."

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