Left: Ty Vaughn (Harris County Jail). Right: Luis Banos Norberto (Guillen-Baytown Funeral Home).
Authorities in Texas arrested a man who they say killed his fiance after he asked Google, “Can I kill an illegal human,” because the victim was reportedly an undocumented immigrant.
Ty Vaughn, 31, is charged with murder in the January death of 27-year-old Luis Banos Norberto. Vaughn is accused of shooting Norberto in the face and then moving his body in an attempt to make it like a suicide, a criminal complaint says. It happened Jan. 14 at an apartment complex in Baytown, which is near Houston.
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Local ABC affiliate KTRK obtained an arrest affidavit that further details the allegations against Vaughn. He claimed he came home shortly after 5:30 a.m. to find Norberto dead, but surveillance video and interviews with neighbors told a different story. Video showed that Vaughn actually returned home shortly after 4 a.m., the affidavit reportedly said. Neighbors reported hearing a gunshot a few minutes later.
Around 4:30 a.m. as Norberto lay dead in the apartment, Vaughn allegedly texted the victim, “Babe? Babe why are you not texting back?!?!” Cops reportedly said Vaughn waited until after 5:30 a.m. — some 90 minutes after the murder — to call 911.
“My spouse is dead,” he allegedly told dispatchers. “Help. My life is over.”
Officers found Norberto’s body lying on a bed with a lever-action rifle up against his arm and a ripped up picture of him and Vaughn nearby, the affidavit reportedly said.
Detectives noted Vaughn kept saying that Norberto was an undocumented immigrant. When they searched his phone, they allegedly uncovered that he searched, “Can I kill an illegal human,” on Google.
KTRK spoke with Vaughn before his arrest. He told the TV station that the “police know all the details.” When offered condolences he allegedly replied “I mean, it is what it is.”
Police arrested Vaughn on Saturday. He’s at the Harris County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He has a court date scheduled for Monday.
Norberto’s obituary said he was born in Guerrero, Mexico, and much of his family now lives in Baytown.
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