Inset: David Elijah Herrera (HPD). Background: The Houston home where Herrera allegedly killed his former girlfriend and her new partner (Google Maps).
A 31-year-old Texas man is accused of fatally shooting his former girlfriend and her boyfriend in the driveway of their Houston home shortly after the couple took their 4-year-old son to school.
David Elijah Herrera has been arrested and charged with capital murder in the deaths of 29-year-old Dariela Elizabeth Cardona and 41-year-old Erick Von Gerbitz, according to court records.
Houston police said officers were called to a reported shooting at a home in the 900 block of Lindale Street at about 8:15 a.m. on Oct. 5, according to a news release. Responding officers and emergency crews found a man and a woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Houston Fire Department medical personnel pronounced both victims dead at the scene.
Police provided few additional details about the investigation but said detectives identified Herrera as a suspect. He was taken into custody “a short time later in Liberty County.”
In an order denying bond, a magistrate judge wrote that Herrera “shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend” and later “confessed to both murders.”
Family members told Houston CBS affiliate KHOU that Cardona had broken up with Herrera about a month before the shooting. They said she had recently reunited with Von Gerbitz, the father of her young son, and that Herrera allegedly threatened Von Gerbitz the night before the killings.
Blanca Gerbitz, Von Gerbitz’s mother, told KHOU that her son had recently returned to Houston from Amarillo in hopes of reuniting with his family. She said she drove him back to Houston roughly two weeks before his death because she was concerned about his safety.
“I told him, ‘I’ve had a bad feeling, son, and that’s why I brought you home,’” she said.
Blanca Gerbitz said her son called her Sunday night and told her Herrera had threatened to kill him. According to her account, Von Gerbitz also described the couple’s efforts to get help.
“I called 911 and it’s 11:00 and they never came,” Von Gerbitz told his mother, according to her account. “It’s been four hours, and they never came.”
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Von Gerbitz’s sister, Lisa Leal, reportedly reviewed home security footage showing the couple returning after taking their son to school. The video allegedly showed Herrera waiting for them. Leal said Von Gerbitz confronted Herrera and told him to leave before Herrera opened fire.
Investigators are treating the Houston shooting as a domestic violence-related killing. Police believe Herrera may have been angered by Cardona’s reconciliation with Von Gerbitz, local ABC affiliate KTRK reported.
A witness also told investigators that a man was seen leaving the area and that part of the vehicle’s license plate had been recorded. Police used Flock Safety license-plate reader data to track a red Ford Fusion that Herrera was allegedly driving to Liberty County.
Cardona was the mother of two boys and worked as a hairstylist at a salon in Houston’s Heights neighborhood. She had been employed there for about two years, according to local Fox affiliate KRIV.
“Her laugh was very contagious,” a former co-worker told the station.
Jesus Flores, a longtime neighbor of Cardona’s family, told KTRK that he remembered how devoted she was to her sons.
“She loved her sons; she was always taking them out, from what I remember, you know. Man, she just started her business; she was doing hair, she was doing really well. Everything she could do, she did it for them,” Flores said.
Blanca Gerbitz urged others not to ignore warning signs involving a jealous or threatening former partner.
“Don’t ever underestimate a jealous person,” she said, adding, “Never.”
Herrera is in the Harris County Jail without bond, records show. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 5.
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