Authorities have arrested a U.S. Marine in connection with the killing of University of North Texas junior Sara Mutschlechner, 20, who was shot in a road rage incident early on New Year's Day.
According to the U.S. Marshal Service, Cpl. Eric Jamal Johnson, 20, was arrested on Tuesday at a Marine Corps air station in Yuma, Arizona. Johnson, is being held without bond on a murder warrant obtained by police in Denton, Texas. It remains unclear if Johnson has an attorney or plans to fight extradition to Texas.
At a Tuesday news conference, Shane Kizer, a spokesman for the Denton Police Department, said Mutschlechner was acting as a designated driver for a New Year's Eve party that she and a group attended. She was taking three passengers home early in the morning when a dark-colored SUV with several occupants pulled up next to Mutschlechner's car and initiated a conversation.
"It was an amicable conversation to begin with, but quickly went downhill and some derogatory statements were made toward the female occupants of that vehicle," Kizer said, adding that some of the comments were of a "sexual nature."
When Mutschlechner attempted to drive off, someone in the SUV opened fire on her vehicle, striking it several times. One of the bullets, police said, struck the young woman in the head, causing her vehicle to crash into another car and a utility pole.
Mutschlechner was taken to Denton Regional Medical Center, where she died after being taken off life support.
Friends of Mutschlechner told KXAS-TV in Dallas that she was a film major and member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
"It broke my heart, along with everyone else's heart, because she did not deserve this, of all people," University of North Texas junior Olivia Flores told the news station.
Questioned by police, witnesses told police at least five men were in the SUV and two of them had attended the same New Year's Eve party Mutschlechner and her friends had left just prior to the shooting.
"It was stated that the shots came from the driver's seat, as [a witness] stated he could see the muzzle flash and the muzzle/barrel of the weapon, which was described as a black semi-auto handgun," reads Johnson's arrest affidavit.
Surveillance videos from nearby businesses, along with postings to social media, reportedly helped investigators identify Johnson as a suspect.
Fort Worth's WFAA-TV reported Johnson, who was raised in Fort Worth, has been in the Marines since 2013.
"He couldn't have done this ... that was my first reaction," Arian Helm -- who said he has known Johnson since elementary school -- told WFAA-TV. "I'm just shocked. I'm speechless."
