27-year-old Dominique Pittman is accused of killing 16-year-old Evalyce Santiago (above) after she threatened to tell his long-term girlfriend — her aunt — about their sexual relationship.
Police found Evalyce’s body in a car crash in Waterbury, Connecticut.
via NYDN:
Pittman initially told police that he was driving Santiago to pick up her boyfriend, when an argument ensued. He said he heard gunshots ring out, saw Santiago slumped over, and watched the boyfriend run away from the vehicle. However, investigators detected inconsistencies in his story. He later admitted to being alone with Santiago, according to the arrest warrant application, NBC Connecticut reported. Pittman then told police that Santiago began cutting store scan cards from his key chain with a knife. She grabbed a gun from the car’s console, Pittman told police, according to the report. As they were fighting over the gun, it went off, and Pittman, who was driving, crashed the car, Pittman said. When officers suggested that Santiago might be pregnant, he admitted to having a sexual relationship with her up until November, police paperwork showed, according to the report.
Evalyce’s family was unaware of her relationship with Dominique. Dominique has several children with Evalyce’s aunt.
Her maternal grandfather Francisco Rivera, is also her adoptive father. “Nobody knows nothing until something happens. That’s when we all realize the tragedy. It was under our noses and we didn’t see it,” Rivera told NBC Connecticut. “We go on with life. He looks at four walls and figures out what he did wrong.”
Bond for Dominique Pittman was set at $3 million Wednesday.
