A Texas man was arrested last week for a road rage shooting that killed a mother of four early last month.
Julie Marie Butcher, 31 years old, was tragically discovered inside a vehicle on Interestate 35 in San Antonio after a rollover crash on November 8 at around 9:30 p.m. She had sustained a gunshot wound to the head and, sadly, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to reports from KSAT.
Eye-witnesses revealed that a small blue and silver sedan driver was seen firing at Butcher’s vehicle during the incident. Surveillance footage managed to capture a fleeting image of the suspect’s vehicle as it swiftly departed the scene post the shooting.
Police received an anonymous tip pointing towards a certain “Nick Hernandez” who had supposedly admitted to being the shooter to a close acquaintance. Hernandez allegedly mentioned driving a Volkswagen Jetta on November 10. Subsequently, authorities identified him as 24-year-old Nicholas Hernandez. Additionally, it was discovered that he had reported a robbery about 15 hours post the shooting incident.
Hernandez told police that he was robbed while playing basketball by a man who took his Beretta 9mm handgun, a black duffle bag, and a basketball. But when police executed a search warrant at Hernandez’s home, they found the duffle bag and basketball he’d reported stolen.
By mid-month, police had contacted three witnesses for statements. According to an arrest affidavit, one told investigators he’d been playing basketball with Hernandez and other at the time the robbery supposedly took place, but he gave a different location for the basketball game. He also said that Hernandez never mentioned anything about a robbery.
Another said that Hernandez confessed to being involved in a road rage incident that included a shooting and the victim’s vehicle to roll into a ditch.
The final witness said that Hernandez came to his home and asked him to dispose of two spent 9mm shell casing that he took out of his Jetta, which was later seized by police.
The affidavit also said that Hernandez’s phone records and records showed his phone near the location of the shooting on November 8, and records from the Jetta showed it at the last witness’s home after the shooting.
Hernandez was arrested on Wednesday and charged with murder. No bond has been set.
Butcher was a mother of four children and general manager at a Papa John’s location, an obituary said.
