Crime & Safety
Man Murdered Girlfriend Over Fear Of Breakup: Report
A Kensington man fatally shot his girlfriend out of fear that the relationship would end, according to a new report.
KENSINGTON, MD — A Kensington man shot and killed his girlfriend last year over fears of a breakup, according to a Bethesda Beat report.
Alejandro Jose Perez de Leon, 48, has been charged with the first-degree murder of his partner, 33-year-old Silvia Elenia Fernandez. Authorities believe Perez de Leon shot Fernandez after they got into a domestic-related argument in June 2019. The pair lived together in a basement apartment on Shaftesbury Street.
During Perez de Leon's murder trial on Tuesday, Assistant State's Attorney Katherine Getty said the victim told her landlord that things "weren't going well" in the relationship, Bethesda Beat reported.
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"It's undisputed Silvia wanted out of the relationship," she said.
According to the news outlet, Fernandez moved into the Kensington basement apartment with Perez de Leon in January 2019. For a couple months that spring, Fernandez wasn't in Kensington. The relationship reportedly began to deteriorate when she returned home.
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According to Montgomery County police, officers responded to the Kensington home around 10 p.m. on June 18 after receiving a call about a shooting. They found Fernandez dead at the scene.
In court on Tuesday, defense attorney David Felsen acknowledged that Perez de Leon killed Fernandez, but said it was out of anger and not premeditated, Bethesda Beat reported.
The trial is expected to last five days, court records show.
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