I don't think Nicole was badly hit by that first shot. I believe it was the next two that killed her.

[Rustynaerduwell]

Did you see where that bullet entered the window? Way down in the corner. Follow a bullet coming from anywhere near the right front fender/headlight area and entering the front window in the right lower corner where it did. It looks way far off from any trajectory leading to a lethal head shot. It is so far off, it may have missed her completely.

It was the second and third shot that throws self defense out the window.

But if she was alive with a non-fatal wound, or no wound at all, after that first shot, manslaughter doesn't cut it.


This better end up in the hands of a jury that is allowed to see all the evidence.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

1. Bullets dont travel straight after they hit sloped safety glass like windshields

They generally deflect upwards due to the backward slope of the glass contacting the bottom of the bullet first. It also doesn't travel in a straight upward line either, it can go in any random upward trajectory, and many times its no longer a single projectile, but broken up into multiple pieces.

[RockCreek]

2. Not to mention that the refusal of medical aid could have

prevented a not immediately fatal wound from killing her.

Even if the wound appeared to show that it was impossible for her to be alive, ICE agents are not qualified to make that determination.

[underpants]

3. Won't the autopsy be filed locally?

I was thinking about this too. You’re right about the angle on the first shot but remember the murderer was near the left bumper/quarter panel so the trajectory could be back across the vehicle. That may have killed her and what followed in terms of the vehicle would be just what naturally followed.

Yes the second and third shots are clearly premeditated. He went out if the way to do those. Scumbag.

Will we be allowed to see the autopsy?
Notice there was no other glass broken so each shot hit something but it could be the seats.

[Cattledog]

4. The state will perform an autopsy on its own.

That's where we will get the real answer.

[LakeVermilion]

5. Has there been any discussion about the weapon?

I'm guessing that a "macho" guy would carry a powerful handgun. That was a good sized hole in the windshield.

[Igel]

6. ICE standard issue is (the Intertubes tell me) a Sig Sauer PM 320.

Apparently (I'm also told) there are various models of that variety of pistol.

9 mm. Apparently equivalent to 0.357 caliber. Don't know muzzle velocities.

On edit: As for the size of the hole, it'll depend on more than just the caliber of the bullet. Angle it hits the glass at, how the glass reacts to the stresses when the bullet impacts it, whether the bullet maintains its original shape or flattens. Note that modern car windows tend to shatter more than the old car from the '60s I drove when I was in high school, with windshields intended to mostly resist breaking (meaning that if your head hit it, your head was more likely to break than with a modern windshield).