The relatives of a Texas real estate agent who was fatally shot in the street after a confrontation with a stranger have been shown disturbing video footage capturing the chilling moment she was killed. Ashlee Long, 28, was shot dead on April 5 while she was visiting Dallas for a work-related conference.
She was downtown with her boyfriend around 2:30 a.m. when the friend touched a passing white Mercedes, prompting the driver to stop on the street. The driver, Kendrick Finch, immediately got out of the vehicle holding a 9mm handgun. Chilling video shows William Kistler, 36, who was with Long, reaching for her purse, where his firearm was kept.
An Altercation and a Murder
Kistler and Long struggled as she tried to hold him back from getting his gun, but he eventually managed to pull his .40 caliber pistol from her bag. At that moment, Finch opened fire on the two of them in the middle of a busy street lined with stores, restaurants, and apartments, hitting Long.
Long was killed and Kistler was wounded after prosecutors alleged that Finch, 34, opened fire on the couple during a violent incident in Downtown Dallas on April 5. Kistler managed to fire three rounds from his weapon but was also shot and later taken to the hospital, while Finch fled the scene.
According to local outlet Fox 4, Finch called police a few hours later and admitted to being the shooter, but he didn't surrender to authorities until April 18.
Several members of Long's family, who attended Finch's bond reduction hearing wearing shirts bearing her name, were asked to leave the courtroom before the graphic footage was played.
Finch's attorney claimed that his client was acting in self-defense during Wednesday's hearing. "When the car stopped, what was Mr. Kistler doing before my client got out of the car?" Josh Healy, Finch's defense attorney, asked the lead homicide detective in the case, Ronald Kramer.
"He was wrestling with Ms. Long in the middle of the street," Detective Kramer replied.
"Trying to get the gun!" Healy said.
"I can tell you Mr Finch's gun was pointed in Mr. Kistler and Ms. Long's direction, and she had started to fall prior to what appears to be Mr Kistler directing his gun at Mr Finch so to go out on assumption, I would assume Mr Finch fired first," Kramer said.
Both Parties Plead Not Guilty
Long's family remained silent during Wednesday's proceedings but shared her story last month. On the day of the incident, Long had traveled from her home in Houston to Dallas for a networking event.
She died at the hospital shortly after the shooting, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. "I feel dead inside. She was my everything. A night out on the town and just being in the wrong place at the wrong time," her mother, Michelle Long, told CBS News Texas in April.
According to the TV station, Finch has a history of prior criminal offenses, including charges related to drugs and burglary.
Judge Jennifer Balido denied his request to lower his bond. He remains in custody at the Dallas County Jail with bond set at $500,000.
