No Hesitation: The Murder Of Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Barraza, Texas
Elizabeth 'Liz' Barraza
The age of CCTV has been of great benefit for catching killers. Only the other day we wrote up an article about a young lad snatched from very close to safety. There were many houses around and a shop, but no CCTV. It was 1970 in the UK. Justice might get there for Allan Graham but it has been a long road. It seems almost unbelievable that these days a camera would not have solved the crime quickly. Yet here we have the murder of 29 year old Elizabeth Barraza. We have camera footage of the attack and film of a likely vehicle as it drives off. This happened on 25th January 2019. There has been no progress.
All At A Glance.
A lady sets out for a yard sale outside of her Houston, Texas home. Her husband has just set out for work. A neighbour’s Ring camera captures a distanced view of a figure walking up to her. They fire three times and Ms Barraza falls backwards. They then step forward and without any hesitation shoot her again at close range. They then run to a black pick up truck and drive off. There are no known suspects though the cops have recently interviewed a person of interest.
More Detail On The Murder Of Liz Barraza
Mrs Barraza was trying to make some extra money for a trip she planned with her husband, Sergio. The idea was to have a yard sale outside of her Houston home. Sergio set off for work a few moments before his wife was killed. Cops put together any and all footage from local houses, they confirmed Sergio drove off at 6.48 am.
At 6.52 am a person approaches the victim who appears to be standing behind a table. They are wearing a bathrobe and have long hair. Initially it was thought this was a woman but in recent updates the cops are quoted as saying the offender was a man.
Certainly from watching the video I agree. (see Daily Mail link below)
They seem to say a few words to each other. 12 seconds goes by and then the gunman shoots. They go to shoot a fourth time but Mrs Barraza fell backwards. That is when they took several steps until they were stood over her. That is when they fired the final shot.
In a news report it is said that the victim had not advertised the sale and had only put out a few signs a little before the shooting. This lady was a very well thought of individual who had been married for almost five years. Even though she was young she had already spent much time in charity work and was known to use her interest in Star Wars to entertain sick children.
The police have shown no interest in those close to her and seemed to be unsure about motive or the identity of anyone who would harm her. The area is a suburban one. The houses are neat and slightly spaced apart.
Initially the offender turned and ran to their vehicle and drove off. Then cameras seem to pick up images of the truck coming back as if the driver wanted to check that Mrs Barraza was dead.
Neighbours called 911 when they heard the gunfire. Mrs Barrazo was rushed to hospital. Sadly she was declared dead at 1 pm that day .
The vehicle is believed to have been a dark coloured, 2013 version, Nissan Frontier Pro 4X Crew Cab.
Detective Wallace Wyatt, who was at a recent appeal, said the police wanted leads and would follow up any they got.
In the ABC 13 article ( linked below) Sergio said ‘I just hope this helps. And I hope someone steps up, we need somebody to do the right thing. We need justice for Liz, and we hope to get that this year.’
All of her family and friends miss this lady and want answerers
Call (713) 222-TIPS with any information. There is a $50,000 reward offered as of now.
A Few Thoughts
The act was so targeted and callous it is hard to think that the offender has not done this before. I am thinking at least ex military or similar. Obviously it could be a random person for all that yet there is no motive and no appeal for anyone about similar murders. So I am inclined to think this was deliberately carried out with Mrs Barraza as the target.
Only those close can speculate as to motive. Given she did not advertise the yard sale on social media surely the opportunity for a targeted attack becomes harder. It suggests that someone close to the victim knew of her plans as opposed to a person who was a vague ‘friend’ on Facebook.
In addition, it seems the offender was in disguise. They seem to have been attempting to portray themselves as a woman. So who is that cool and proficient with a fire arm and randomly cruises around at 6 am looking for victims while in disguise. To my mind pretty much no-one.
So who asked who to do this ?
This was the ambush of a woman in the early morning, caught on CCTV and committed by someone wearing a disguise. It reminds me of the Missy Bevers case. This is another Texas unsolved though different in enough ways that I cannot see how it was the same offender, however, the parts that are similar are incredibly so.
Take Care
Tim
