The Murder of Gabriel Montanez
I decided to watch an episode of The Murder Tapes on ID for this case. It’s season 4 episode 4, titled ‘Blind Love.’ The Murder Tapes is one of my favorite shows on ID because it’s told through police body cam footage and police interrogations. This case is only about three years old and it’s an underreported case, which is why I chose it.
Background
Gabriel
Gabriel was 31 years old when he died. He was also a father, who was described as being “the rock” of the family and an all around loving and caring person.
His mom, Eva’s interview in this episode was the most heartbreaking of all, she said she was “alive, but dead inside,” without him. His daughter, Aryana and the mother of his daughter, Sarah, were also interviewed and they both said how close they were with him and how it’s changed their family so much.
The Murder
A 911 call came into the Kalamazoo, Michigan police department on July 25, 2017, around 2am. The caller was a man who lived in apartment complex and he said a man had been shot.
The police arrived, and found Gabriel laying in a parking lot, still alive but having trouble breathing. The police are heard asking Gabriel what happened, and to squeeze their hands if he could hear them. Gabriel was not able to talk or to squeeze their hands. He was taken to the hospital and into surgery, but died at the hospital.
Investigation
The officers went back to the scene, and there were blood drops found on the sidewalk, but not much blood at the scene. The officers believed the shooting had taken place in a different location.
The police went to the apartment building and to nearby residents to see if there were any witnesses to the crime. They did find a witness, a man at a nearby house. The man told the police that he yelled at a thin man wearing a black hoodie to get off his lawn. He said the man was running on foot, and he knew that their was a shooting that night because he heard it.
Next, the police had to look into Gabriel’s background, and they realized they had arrested Gabriel a few weeks prior to this incident. He was arrested because his girlfriend, Kimberly said he was stalking her at her work.
The police want to talk to Kimberly, and they realize she lived at the apartment building where Gabriel was found. The police are seen knocking on Kimberly’s door, and she doesn’t answer until the police are inside her home. The police had to check if anyone else was inside, and there wasn’t.
The police are confused by Kimberly’s behavior. She is shown still sitting in bed, while the police are looking around her apartment. The police take her in for questioning.
Kimberly is asked when the last time she talked to Gabriel was. Kimberly said she talked to him before she got off work at 12:55am. She was confused about what was happening, and the police tell her that Gabriel was shot and killed. Kimberly starts to cry, and the police said it seemed genuine, until they started asking her more questions.
The lead detective in this case, Detective Rivard, came in and started asking Kimberly questions. Detective Rivard said she came in to see if Kimberly would react better to talking to a woman. Kimberly was asked who would do this to Gabriel, and Kimberly said she was involved with several men and that Gabriel didn’t know about them, and they didn’t know about Gabriel. Kimberly also wouldn’t give any names out, and she was let go.
Surveillance Footage and Suspects
Around 24 hours after Gabriel’s death, the police’s next step was to locate surveillance footage. They found surveillance footage from a gas station that was kitty corner to where Gabriel was found.
They saw a Buick pulling up to the gas station and found out the car was registered to Kimberly. However, a man actually gets out of the car and into the gas station. The police recognize the man as being Ellis. Ellis (his face was blurred out in the episode) was known to police because of other run ins with them.
Ellis was their next suspect. They found him outside his house and he was with his young son. Ellis said he was with his girlfriend that night, a woman named Samantha and said that was not him on the surveillance footage. Samantha was interviewed, but she was not helpful.
The police realized that Kimberly’s car is probably going to hold the answers to what happened, so they obtained a search warrant. Inside the car, they found things belonging to several people: Kimberly, Gabriel and a man named Cornell Head. They also found a .40 caliber bullet that matched the weapon that killed Gabriel.
Kimberly was brought back in and was confronted about the evidence in her car. Kimberly said she didn’t want to go to jail and that if she did she would “kill herself.” Kimberly was asked who the killer was and she said it was Cornell Head, who was she also involved with at the time.
The Confession
Kimberly said that she got off work that night at 12:55am, and went to pick up Cornell. Cornell, Kimberly and Ellis then went to McDonald’s. Now, it’s not stated what relationship Kimberly or Cornell had with Ellis, but I’m guessing he was a friend of Cornell’s. Kimberly said the three of them were eating inside her car, when Gabriel approached the passenger side, where Cornell was. She said Cornell had a gun, and shot Gabriel. Kimberly then fled and went into her apartment alone.
The police seem to buy Kimberly’s story, and they track down Cornell and bring him in. Cornell was also known to the police and he had been arrested before in Michigan and in Chicago. Cornell said that he did kill Gabriel, but after Gabriel “swung” at him.
Cornell had no idea that Kimberly was seeing both of them, or any other men. The police could tell that Cornell was heartbroken after finding out that Kimberly cheated on him.
Arrest and Conviction
Cornell Head
Prison details for Cornell Head
Cornell was arrested and convicted of second degree murder, even though his attorney tried to claim it was self defense.
On November 6, 2018, Cornell was sentenced to 30-50 years in prison. He was also sentenced to two additional years for two counts of a felony firearm. He was 22 years old.
Kimberly and Ellis were not charged.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Another person lost their life over a love triangle. It’s heartbreaking, especially because Gabriel probably just wanted to see Kimberly that night. I don’t know whether it was actually self defense, it could have been, but Gabriel didn’t deserve to die.
Gabriel’s family said at the end of the episode that they try to talk about him during every family gathering and holidays, and only talk about the good memories. I hope they find peace, especially knowing Cornell Head is in prison.
Sources
https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2017/11/gabriel_juarez-montanez.html
https://wwmt.com/news/local/man-charged-with-open-murder-in-july-shooting
