Mom Killed by Boyfriend After He Says He Mistook Her for Burglar: Police

A Texas man has claimed he shot his girlfriend dead after he mistook her for a burglar, according to police.

Officers raced to a Pasadena apartment after they received reports of a shooting at about 3:30 a.m. on Monday.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a database that collects information about shootings from across the U.S., five people have been shot dead in Pasadena this year.

It added the woman shot on Monday was the only female shot dead in the city since January 1, this year.

According to ABC7, the man, who has not been named, believed he heard a break-in attempt at his door, grabbed his gun and shot his girlfriend several times.

She was taken to Memorial Hermann by Life Flight where she was later pronounced dead, the network reported.

Investigators believe the live-in girlfriend was inside the apartment when the shooting took place.

Police told the network the apartment door was damaged, although they admitted to not knowing whether the destruction was old or recent.

But the family of the victim, who ABC13 named as Chrisheena Lee, a young mother, has contested the boyfriend's version of events.

Lee's cousin Tasha McCoy said: "She's been getting away from him. She's been telling the family he's stalking her. He just wouldn't leave her alone."

She continued: "He should be in jail. You didn't have to go to this extent and then you lie about it and cover it up. It just doesn't make sense."

Pasadena Sgt. Raul Granados told ABC7: "We're going to collect shell casings. We're going to look at the trajectory of the bullets and compare that to his statement and try to see if everything matches up.

"If it truly is accidental, obviously this is a very sad situation. If he did believe there was a break-in and, in fact, there wasn't, he ended up shooting his loved one.

"It's a very difficult situation for him. If there was an intruder, obviously, we want to find maybe doorbell cameras, maybe cameras at the apartment complex, to see if we are going to have to look for a suspect out there, or what happened at the door that startled him enough to get his weapon and start shooting."

Police added the boyfriend is cooperating with officers and is being questioned about what happened in the moments that led up to the shooting.

Newsweek has contacted the Pasadena Police Department for comment.

Earlier this month, a 15-year-old girl accidentally killed her boyfriend while they played with a gun.

Deputies at the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina said the shooting happened at a home in Mount Croghan and that it involved a handgun.

Captain Wayne Jordan told WPDE: "Looked like they were playing with a gun, handgun and the gun went off, the safety somehow went off and fired. A round hit the 15-year-old male in the chest."