The family of the teen, Keysi Fabiana Matos Delgado, doesn’t believe her death was an accident. They believe the suspect was trying to get rid of her body.
DALLAS — A grieving family is demanding that a manslaughter charge be upgraded to murder after a 17-year-old girl was shot and killed late Monday night in what the accused gunman claims was an accident.
Keysi Fabiana Matos Delgado was in a car with two other people in the parking lot of the Timber Creek Apartments on Timberglen Road, when she was shot, according to police. Police say she was in the back seat with another person and the alleged gunman, Frank Molina Pacheco, also 17, was in the driver’s seat.
A police affidavit says that “according to the witness, (the person in the back seat with Keysi) the suspect began playing around w ith the gun while turned around in the driver seat facing backwards. The witness stated that while the suspect was playing with the gun, he discharged it striking the complainant.”
Instead of calling 911 for help, police say Pacheco raced away from the apartment complex in an attempt to get to a hospital.
The car crashed near an underpass at 12500 Dallas Parkway, according to officials. Responding officers said Pacheco attempted to hide the firearm but it was found and recovered. He told police the gun went off accidentally when he gave it to Keysi. But the witness in the car says the gun was in Pacheco’s hand when it was fired.
It’s a story that the girl’s grieving family does not believe. They say she was shot twice in the abdomen and chest. At a news conference Thursday morning just feet from where the shooting took place, the girls’ mother, Hilda Adreina Delgado, said she believes Pacheco was racing away, not to a hospital, but to get rid of the body.
“There’s been a lot of versions going around as to what happened that night,” said family spokesperson Nicolas Quintanilla.
He says the family believes Pacheco, a distant acquaintance from Newman Smith High School in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, was infatuated with Keysi, who turned down his advances.
“I think that he was on a mission to kill her,” said Keysi’s brother, Keyber Matos Delgado.
Frank Molina Pacheco is in the Dallas County Jail charged with manslaughter and being held on $100,000 bond.
At an emotional news conference surrounded by dozens of family and friends holding signs that said “Justice of Keysi” and “she did not deserve death,” they demanded the charge be upgraded to murder and that bond be denied.
“The family wants to get assurance that justice is going to happen,” said Quintanilla.
A candlelight vigil is planned for Thursday night at the Timber Creek Apartments. The funeral for Keysi Fabiana Matos Delgado is planned for Saturday.