El Paso woman arrested on suspicion of murder in fatal domestic violence shooting

An El Paso woman was arrested on suspicion of murder in the fatal shooting of her boyfriend after the original story she told police did not match up with physical evidence at her apartment.

Valerie Navejas, 41, was arrested May 10 in connection with the death of Todd Olivas, 49, during a domestic violence incident at an apartment in the 6800 block of Bellrose Drive near Airway and Viscount boulevards, El Paso Police Department officials said.

Police officers responded to reports on May 10 of a domestic dispute at the apartment about 9:45 p.m., officials said. Officers found Olivas with gunshot wounds. Olivas died in the apartment because of gunshot wounds he suffered in the shooting.

Navejas was arrested on suspicion of murder. She was booked May 11 into the El Paso County Jail on a $150,000 bond. She has yet to post bail and remains jailed as of Tuesday, May 14, jail logs show.

Navejas originally claimed her boyfriend threatened to commit suicide and was fatally shot as they struggled for a gun, a complaint affidavit states. However, an investigation by police showed evidence at the scene did not corroborate her version of the events.

Originally claimed boyfriend was shot during struggle for gun

She claimed she came home from work early because she felt sick. Navejas is “a Level 3 security guard and she carries a firearm while on duty,” the affidavit states. The affidavit does not state where she works.

Navejas told police she had been dating Olivas for about six months, and he would sometimes stay overnight at her apartment.

She alleged she and Olivas got into a fight over the phone while she was still at work. The argument was over leaving work early. Olivas allegedly claimed she left work because she just didn’t want to work.

Navejas got home and took off her duty belt with her loaded handgun. She placed it inside of her backpack and put the backpack in a closet in her bedroom.

She claimed Olivas was at the apartment and had been drinking. She told police she was lying in bed when Olivas got on top of her and began to “lightly slap her in the face,” the affidavit states. She told police she did not feel any pain.

Olivas allegedly pulled her hair causing her to feel pain. She told Olivas she was done with him and asked him to leave the apartment, the affidavit states. Olivas allegedly refused to leave.

Navejas claimed Olivas walked toward her bedroom closet and grabbed her handgun. He allegedly pointed the gun at her and she asked him not to do anything to her.

She told police Olivas said he was going to kill himself and pointed the gun at himself, the affidavit states.

They then struggled for control of the gun in the bedroom. Navejas claimed she had her eyes closed as they fought for the gun when she heard multiple gunshots, the affidavit states.

She opened her eyes and had the handgun in her hands. Olivas was shot lying on the floor of a hallway outside of the bedroom.

Navejas told police she did not know what to do, so she called a friend. The friend’s mother told her to unload the handgun and call 911, the affidavit states. The friend’s mother also allegedly told her to pick the bullet casings from the floor of the bedroom and place them on top of a dresser in the bedroom.

Navejas changes her story as police investigate crime scene

An investigation by police revealed “inconsistencies with the defendant’s story and the physical evidence at the crime scene,” the affidavit states.

Navejas allegedly then changed her story. She claimed she was able to get the gun from Olivas as they fought for it. She then shot Olivas twice at a close distance, the affidavit states.

Olivas began walking backward away from Navejas toward the entrance of the bedroom with his hands up and making a stop gesture to her, the affidavit states.

She told police she followed Olivas and believed he was going to grab something. She shot Olivas again by the bedroom door entrance.

Olivas fell to the floor and began crawling backward toward another bedroom. She then walked toward the hallway and shot Olivas again as he was on the floor, the affidavit states.

Navejas told police she did not remember how many times she fired the gun. She told police she then placed the gun on the bed and called a friend. She also tried calling her family members before she called 911.

It took Navejas about 30 minutes to call 911 after the shooting, the affidavit states.

The affidavit alleges Navejas “tampered with the crime scene by picking up the spent casings before reporting the incident to police.”

Investigators obtained a search warrant for Navejas’ apartment. They found three spent casing on top of a dresser inside the bedroom and another spent casing in the hallway, the affidavit states.

Olivas had multiple gunshot wounds to his right leg and another gunshot wound to his left torso area, the affidavit states. He died at the apartment.

Navejas was arrested on suspicion of murder.

This is the seventh homicide of 2024 compared to seven at the same time last year, officials said.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Woman arrested for murder in fatal East El Paso shooting