PROGRESO — Federal authorities at the international bridge here detained a man suspected of gunning down his estranged wife in front of her 11-year-old daughter Wednesday afternoon north of Alton.
Miguel Angel Garcia, 37, attempted to cross back into the United States at the Progreso International Bridge about 8 a.m. Thursday, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. He was detained by U.S. Cus-toms and Border Protection officers before he could enter the U.S.
Investigators say Garcia fled to Mexico shortly after his wife, 37-year-old Nora Lee Garcia, was shot at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The sheriff said she suffered a fatal shotgun wound to the back as she tried to flee after the two argued outside her home, which sits along a street northwest of the intersection of Highway 107 and Conway Road. Four witnesses, including the couple’s 11-year-old daughter, saw the crime unfold, Treviño said.
The couple had a history of domestic violence, Treviño said. Nora Lee Garcia pressed charges against her husband last year but then went to the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office to drop the charges, Treviño said.
Her slaying is the ninth homicide of the year investigated by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office and the third attributed to domestic violence, Treviño said.
Officials were questioning the suspect Thursday morning and offered no explanation as to why he would have crossed to Mexico and then attempted to return.
Treviño did not expect a judge to file charges against Miguel Angel Garcia until today at the earliest. Suspects can be detained for up to 72 hours before criminal charges are filed.
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