'Our world was shattered' Families mourn as Austin homicides on pace to match deadliest year

It was a simple doorbell camera placed outside of Christina "Michelle" Limon's East Austin home that captured the screams of terror she and her 14-year-old son bellowed seconds before they were shot and left to die.

Those same screams are the ones that Patricia Rodriguez, the sister of Michelle and the aunt of Travis Early College High School student Rudy "Xavier" Limon-Lirra, said will haunt her forever.

"My whole world was shattered," Rodriguez told the American-Statesman between sobs as she remembered the moment she and her family received the news that both the mother and son had died. "Our world was shattered."

More: After historically warm April and lack of steady rain, Austin faces threat of parched summer

Michelle and Xavier were among eight people who Austin police said died in homicides in the city last month. In 2021, when Austin recorded the most homicides in a single year, authorities tallied eight killings in April of that year, too. If homicides continue at the current pace in Austin, the city could match or even surpass the record-setting homicide total reached last year.

Patricia, an Austin native who now lives in Ohio with her active-duty Air Force husband, said she was enjoying a visit from her Austin-based brother the afternoon of April 22 when they received a phone call from back home.

On the other end of the line was Patricia's mother, who said she arrived to Michelle's house to borrow laundry detergent and was instead blocked by yellow tape framing her daughter's doorway.

"I called Alicia, Michelle's 19-year-old daughter, my niece, and said 'Sweetie, I don't know what's going on but Grandma called and there is something going on at your house,' " Patricia said, explaining that she first tried to call Michelle and Xavier but they didn't pick up. "I told (Alicia) that I needed her to go home."

Authorities believe David Ontiveros Jr., Michelle's husband and Xavier's stepfather, ambushed the pair as they walked in the front door of the home at around 3:35 p.m. on April 22, shooting each of them multiple times before leaving and locking the door behind him, according to an arrest affidavit.

Scattered on the bloodied floor next to them as they clung to life were bags of takeout and large sodas they planned to share with one another. Michelle and Xavier were seen in the doorbell footage laughing seconds before they walked through the door. The pair had been coming home from a doctor's visit that took the high schooler out of class early.

More:

Black, Latino, low-income Texans to be hardest hit if Roe v. Wade overturned, experts say

"We found his doctor's excuse note for school in Michelle's vehicle," Patricia said, explaining that she later learned Michelle died at a nearby trauma center while Xavier died a the scene of the crime. "They stopped to pick up dinner. They were in good spirits. He killed them. He left them to die."

Gun violence a growing concern

Austin police have confirmed 26 homicides so far this year, one death shy of the number reported during the same period in 2021.

Authorities in 2021 reported a total of 89 violent killings, more than the number of homicides in 2019 and 2020 combined. The number of homicides in 2021 was unprecedented, with no such numbers seen since the 1960s when police started keeping such records.

It's important to keep in mind, though, that the number of homicides relative to the population last year was not the worst it had ever been.

According to police records going back to 1960, Austin's previous record for homicides in a year was 59 in 1984, when the homicide rate was 13.2 per 100,000 residents. While Austin's 89 homicides in 2021 were well above the 59 reported in 1984, the city's homicide rate was just 9.25 per 100,000 residents.

Regardless, the most violent month in 2021 was July when 11 homicides occurred, followed by September and October with 10 violent killings each.

However, 2022 had a troubling start: The number of homicides in the very first month of the year matched the deadliest month in 2021. The 11 homicides in January was also a significant increase from the six violent killings reported during the same month in 2021.

The homicides in January of this year were followed by three homicides in February, four homicides in March and then the eight homicides in April.

At the start of 2022, after the 11 homicides were tallied in January, members of Austin police's homicide and aggravated assault unit told the Statesman that they were at a loss as to how to reduce the number of violent killings, specifically shooting deaths, in the city.

Discussions about guns in Austin, especially stolen guns used in crimes, became a hot topic starting in 2019 as shooting deaths rose by record-breaking numbers.

Shootings made up 61% of the 33 unjustified killings in 2019, followed by 73% of the 44 unjustified killings in 2020, according to Austin police data. The city had 38 homicides in 2019 and 48 in 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. But the Police Department does not add some of the city's killings to its final report required by the FBI if they involve self-defense.

Of the homicides in 2021, authorities say at least 66 were a result of gun violence. Of the homicides reported so far this year, at least 19 were shooting deaths.

Two related shootings in April occurred within 10 minutes of each other in East Austin and Central Austin, according to police.

Eric Rollings, who was recently released from jail with an ankle monitor in connection with a case alleging sexual assault of a child, was first accused of killing 27-year-old Ishanae Rogers in the 1100 block of Eastfield Avenue on April 28. Authorities responded to the shooting at around 12:44 p.m. and found Rogers next to her vehicle with gunshot wounds.

A family member took Rogers to the hospital, where she died from her injuries, authorities said. Rollings was seen leaving the area after the shooting.

Authorities believe Rollings then drove to East Sixth Street, where he then killed 29-year-old Michael Satterwhite Jr. in an alley. Satterwhite died from his injuries at the scene of the shooting, according to police.

Authorities said they believe Rollings killed Satterwhite and Rogers in retaliation for a robbery that happened early that morning, police records state.

'It blinded her'

Family and friends gathered together on a recent Friday for a candlelight vigil in honor of Michelle Limon and her son, Xavier, in their neighborhood of Garden View Drive in East Austin, sharing memories and thoughts on what they loved most about the mother and son.

For Patricia, who said she and her family are still trying to come to terms with the unnecessary loss of her sister and nephew, said she chose to share her grief in hopes to shed some light on domestic violence.

Michelle, she said, was was her best friend, a constant light in her community with a vibrant sense of humor. Her nephew was a high school athlete, loved by his friends and a mirror image of his mother, especially when it came to their charisma.

"Michelle was a loving mom, wife and daughter," Patricia said. "All she wanted was for her family to be complete. In her eyes, she felt like David completed that father role. She wanted it so bad, that I think it blinded her."

Another homicide in April related to domestic violence was the killing of 42-year-old Jaclyn Parrish, who investigators think was killed by her boyfriend, 40-year-old Michael Moore.

Authorities responded to that homicide at around 1:40 p.m. on April 29 at 1625 Forest Trail in West Austin, where they found both Parrish and Moore with gunshot wounds.

Parrish and Moore were both pronounced dead at 2:27 p.m., according to police, who think Moore fatally shot himself.

A Texas Department of Pubic Safety report published last year said the state recorded 213,875 incidents of family violence in 2020. In 2019, Texas had 196,902.

Those incidents involved 231,029 victims in 2020, up from 211,536 victims in 2019.

The second most common form of family violence is among married couples, which made up 25.1% of family violence in 2020. The third most common were among parents and children, which made up 16.2%.

The most common in 2020 were among other family members, like siblings, step-parents and grandparents, which made up 58.7% of abuse.

In 2019, the Austin Police Department and Travis County sheriff’s office reported a combined total of 9,613 family violence cases.

Patricia said what was hardest to accept in her sister's case is that "Michelle had no chance to defend her son or herself."

"If you have a family member that is in a toxic relationship, reach out and let them know that they have options," Patricia said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 8 Austin homicides in April keep death toll on par with deadliest year