NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Police detectives are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in an apartment on Murfreesboro Pike Wednesday night.
Police say 39-year-old Julio Escalon Ruiz shot and killed his girlfriend 46-year-old Maria Lopez before turning the gun on himself.
Ruiz’s 14-year-old daughter told police 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.
When officers got to the scene, they found the couple dead in the bedroom. Lopez was shot multiple times. Ruiz was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. Officers recovered a handgun from Ruiz.
At the time of the shooting, Ruiz was free on a $1,500 bond for a July 25 domestic assault involving Lopez. He admitted to slapping Lopez’s calf after an argument turned physical.
