German Villasenor was a 44-year-old Hispanic man who served as a Chicago police officer. He and his wife, Jacqueline, also an officer, had been married for 20 years and were raising a teenage son and an adult daughter.
On the night of November 2, 2021, both German and Jacqueline Villasenor were off-duty at their home in Chicago’s Oriole Park neighborhood. According to Cook County prosecutors, the couple was in their bedroom arguing about a recent affair Jacqueline had. During the dispute, Jacqueline, then 39, produced her 9-mm service weapon and threatened to shoot herself. German tried to take the gun from her to prevent her from harming herself.
A struggle for the weapon ensued, and the gun discharged a single time. The bullet struck German in the chest, pierced his heart, and exited through his back. The couple’s 16-year-old son, who was elsewhere in the house, heard the gunshot and went upstairs to investigate.
He found his father lying on the floor, bleeding, while his mother attempted to perform CPR. Jacqueline told her son to call 911 and retrieve her medical kit from her car. Paramedics arrived and transported German to Lutheran General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
When police responded to the home on the 8500 block of West Winona Street, the first officer on the scene noted that Jacqueline smelled of alcohol, though she declined to take a breath test. Investigators later determined that both German and Jacqueline had gunshot residue on their hands. Following an investigation, Jacqueline Villasenor was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. A judge set her bail at $50,000, which she posted for her release pending trial.
The case concluded when Jacqueline Villaseñor, by then an ex-Chicago police officer, pleaded guilty in connection with her husband's fatal shooting. According to news reports from May of the following year, she was expected to serve one week in prison as a result of her plea.
