On the evening of January 23, 2017, 27-year-old Maryory Roig-Cartagena was found fatally shot inside a residence near 13th and Montana on Milwaukee’s south side. First responders arrived about 8:15 p.m. and discovered her unresponsive on the kitchen floor; an autopsy later found she had sustained four gunshot wounds to the head and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 28-year-old man was also shot in the chest that night but escaped the house, called for help, and was found in a nearby alley. He gave investigators the name Rubio, which led to the arrest two days later of 24-year-old Christopher Figueroa-Ortiz. According to the criminal complaint, Figueroa-Ortiz admitted shooting both victims; he said Roig-Cartagena pulled a gun on him, it failed to fire, he took it and shot her, and then he shot the other man when he entered the house. A witness in the complaint said Roig-Cartagena had punched Figueroa-Ortiz before he pulled a gun and shot her multiple times.

Figueroa-Ortiz was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.