Man confessed to accidentally shooting girlfriend at Lehigh Acres home, arrest report says

Writer: Melissa Montoya
Published: Updated:
Hilario Jose Cruz (Credit: LCSO booking photo)

A man arrested for the Christmas Eve death of a woman at a Lehigh Acres home confessed to accidentally shooting her after dancing and pointing his gun at her, according to an arrest report.

Hilario Jose-Cruz, 23, shares an 8-month-old baby with the woman.

He told detectives he spent the day drinking before returning home from a family party with his girlfriend. The two bought a bottle of Hennessey before they got home and continued to listen to music in the garage where Jose-Cruz said he decided to take his guns out to clean them.

The arrest report noted “there were no gun cleaning supplies” at the scene during the investigation.

Jose-Cruz said he began to play with the guns by dancing with them and pointing them at his girlfriend, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

She asked him to put the guns away, but Jose-Cruz didn’t, the report states. As he went to place one of the guns on the table, it accidentally discharged and struck his girlfriend in the chest.

“(Jose-Cruz) said the music made him feel like holding his guns, and was going to have the decedent take a picture of him while displaying the weapons,” the report states.

His girlfriend’s name was not released due to Marsy’s Law.

After the shooting, Jose-Cruz called 911 and woke up his parents to ask them for help.

His parents told authorities they were asleep and didn’t hear the gunfire, but were awoken by Jose-Cruz.

Jose-Cruz is accused of one charge of manslaughter and one charge of weapons offense for shooting a missile in a dwelling. Jose-Cruz was released on Monday after posting bond. His bail was set at $220,000.

He has a hearing scheduled on Jan. 25.

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