ILOILO – A man shot his 16-year-old stepdaughter in Barangay Buntalan, Maasin town.
The 38-year-old Jerold Guillermo quickly left their house after the shooting past 6 p.m. on Thursday but surrendered to the police station of Dumarao, Capiz yesterday morning.
The victim, Grade 11 student Allejah Faye Aglibot, was pronounced dead at the Ramon Tabiana Memorial District Hospital in Cabatuan town minutes after she was shot.
Aglibot died of a gunshot wound in the chest.
According to Inspector Oswald Gatuslao of the Maasin police station, Guillermo and Aglibot had a quarrel over the teenager’s cell phone text messages.
The suspect wanted to check the phone but the victim protested, said Gatuslao.
As of this writing, investigators were yet to determine what gun was used on Aglibot but Gatuslao said responding policemen recovered a spent bullet shell compatible with a .45 revolver.
Guillermo, originally a resident of Belison, Antique, surrendered to the Dumarao police station around 11:30 a.m. yesterday assisted by village officials Barangay Astorga, Dumarao. He yielded without a gun.
The Dumarao police turned over Guillermo to the Maasin police around 5 p.m.
According to Gatuslao, Guillermo fled to Barangay Astorga because he had relatives there.
The suspect was sorry for shooting his stepdaughter and claimed he did not mean to kill her, added the Maasin police chief.
The Maasin police learned that Guillermo and the victim’s mother, 48-year-old Annie Joy, have been living together without the benefit of marriage for the past 10 years.
The victim was Annie Joy’s daughter from a previous relationship.
According to Gatuslao, Annie Joy, an employee of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, witnessed the confrontation between the suspect and victim, and the subsequent shooting.
The mother tried to pacify the suspect, said the police chief.
Guillermo denied insinuations there was more to his relationship with the victim other than that of stepfather and stepdaughter, said Gatuslao.
The suspect claimed he was just protective of his stepdaughter, according to the Maasin police chief.
From what the Maasin police so far gathered, Guillermo spent Thursday night in hiding in neighboring villages after the shooting then by early Friday morning took a bus to Dumarao to seek the help of relatives.
The suspect claimed he was scared so he fled after the shooting.
He used his motorcycle to flee their house. Policemen recovered it at the Maasin gymnasium.
There were unconfirmed reports that Guillermo had beaten up his stepdaughter in the past.
Classmates claimed in radio interviews that the victim described her stepfather as “overprotective.”
Gatuslao said Guillermo would be charged with murder in relation to Republic Act 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act) today at the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office./PN
