Spring Hill Man Charged in Carrollwood Killing

A Spring Hill man was arrested for murder on Sunday after Hillsborough County deputies connected him to the March shooting death of his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend.

Samuel Ortiz-Lopez, 32, of Dunwoody Drive in Spring Hill, was charged with first degree murder with a firearm.

According to the sheriff's office, arguments occurred for two hours on March 23 between Lopez and Ignacio David Aponte-Muriel, 34, who lived in a neighborhood just south of Gunn Highway between Anderson Road and Nixon Road in Carrollwood. The arguments stemmed from an ongoing child support dispute between Lopez and Aponte-Muriel, according to the sheriff's office.

Lopez was dating a woman who Aponte-Muriel used to date, according to the sheriff's office.

Around 9 p.m., Lopez drove to Aponte-Muriel's Carrollwood home and confronted him, according to the sheriff's office. Lopez was carrying a gun, and shot Aponte-Muriel several times, according to the sheriff's office.

Lopez fled in a gray two-door vehicle and got home to Spring Hill around 10 p.m., according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies received a 911 call saying that a man who was shot multiple times was lying outside of Aponte-Muriel's home. The person who called 911 said they saw Aponte-Muriel at the driver's side window of  a small gray vehicle before the person said they heard gunshots.

Lopez's friends and family members alerted deputies that he had threatened to kill Aponte-Muriel, according to the sheriff's office.

Before the shooting, Aponte-Muriel had been talking to his sister via phone, telling her that Lopez had threatened him. Sometime during the conversation, he told her that Lopez had arrived at his home, and the sister heard gunshots shortly after that.

Homicide investigators found surveillance video of Lopez driving his car about 50 minutes before the shooting at a storage facility on Waters Avenue, about three miles from Aponte-Muriel's home.

Lopez was being held without bail on Sunday at the Hillsborough County Jail.