Manuel Ernesto Bernal Jurado was 17 when he was shot and killed on February 2, 2023, in a Chanhassen residential neighborhood on the 700 block of Conestoga Trail. He had spent the evening of February 1 at a movie with his girlfriend, Vanessa Sanchez Lopez, 18, and two friends. Tensions between Manuel and Vanessa continued through the night.

The group drove to a friend’s house in Chanhassen; Manuel’s firearm was in the vehicle and both he and Vanessa reportedly fired it out the car window while driving. After they returned to the vehicle because of the cold, Vanessa allegedly pointed the gun at Manuel and shot him in the head at close range. Audio from a nearby house recorded a male voice saying you shot him in the face twice shortly after the shooting.

Vanessa at first refused to drive Manuel to the hospital, telling others she feared going to prison. The group left the scene and a police pursuit ended in Edina, where officers found Manuel in the front passenger seat with a gunshot wound; he was taken to Fairview Southdale Hospital and pronounced dead. Vanessa Sanchez Lopez was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Did anyone in the area witness the car before it reached Conestoga Trail or hear the altercation that night?