A woman killed after returning from a trip to Colorado to get an abortion had told Dallas police officers — weeks earlier — that her boyfriend repeatedly had attacked her.
Harold Thompson, 22, is accused of killing Gabriella Gonzalez on Wednesday after she had returned from a trip to Colorado to get an abortion.
A police affidavit states that Thompson tried to put her in a chokehold and later pulled out a pistol and shot her in the head. After Gonzalez fell to the ground, the affidavit says, Thompson “then fired multiple more shots” into the 26-year-old Gonzalez’ body.
The affidavit, dated May 10, was submitted to obtain an arrest warrant for Thompson. It also states that Thompson “has an active family violence strangulation warrant…where Complainant Gonzalez was the victim….”
“Further investigation revealed that the complainant went to Colorado to get an abortion and returned the night before,” the affidavit states. “It is believed that the suspect was the father of the child. The suspect did not want the complainant to get an abortion."
Thompson was being held in the Dallas County jail without bond Sunday on a murder charge. Court records indicate that a felony assault charge (Assault Family Member Household Member, Impede Breath Circulation) was filed on the same day as the murder case — on Thursday.
The assault charge involved a separate incident weeks ago. And a related affidavit for an arrest warrant, dated April 14, also detailed allegations that Thompson had attacked Gonzalez repeatedly.
The earlier affidavit refers to a recorded interview with Thompson — in March — in which he “was in disbelief that charges were being pressed for an offense he was not aware of.” In that recording, Thompson claimed that Gonzalez “placed her hands on him” and there may have been an incident where he “struck her back.”
Thompson also allegedly stated at that time that Gonzalez was pregnant with his child and denied choking her.
Experts describe attempts to strangle a domestic abuse victim as a major red flag — a leading indicator of escalating violence that may end in homicide.
Gonzalez described a history of domestic abuse when she talked to a police officer, according to the affidavit.
“Complainant indicated that [the] suspect has beat her up multiple time[s] throughout the entirety of their relationship,” the affidavit states. “The complainant stated the last incident that went undocumented was in January of 2023 where suspect violently attacked her and left her bruised up,” punching her multiple times throughout her body.
Gonzalez also alleged that Thompson also gave her a black eye in November 2022. The affidavit indicates that this incident also had not been reported.
“The complainant appeared to be very fearful of the suspect…and was crying” when she talked to the officer, according to the affidavit, and said she was scared “because he had made threats to harm her family and her children.”
The April 14 affidavit indicates that a case was being filed "based on the probable cause provided by the Complainant's photo, her Family Violence statement, and the offense report."
KERA is seeking to find out what happened with that case between April 14 and when Gonzalez was killed last Wednesday.
Got a tip? Email Ed Timms atetimms@kera.org and Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org.
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