A Denver man has been accused of murdering his former girlfriend in the Congress Park neighborhood the morning of Dec. 16. A friend of the victim said that the suspect had been arrested for domestic violence after an incident involving the victim. A hearing had been scheduled for Jan. 4 in connection with that case, and the victim was expected to testify.

According to Denver police, the victim was driving her car in an alley near her home around 7:25 a.m. when she was shot in the head. She lost control of the car and it crashed into a garage, breaking a hole in the wall. Paramedics took her to the hospital, but she was pronounced dead that evening.

Prior to her death, officers arrested a 27-year-old man in connection with the shooting. The suspect and the victim had had a short romantic relationship, her friend said. The victim, also 27, had recently broken up with the man and he had reacted badly, talking about "being really needy for her," the friend said.

However, it appears the relationship was stormy. The suspect was arrested earlier in December on charges of assault and false imprisonment. The friend said the domestic violence case involved the victim, whom he believes was going to testify at the Jan. 4 hearing.

The suspect was previously arrested in 2010 on a number of felony charges, but prosecutors eventually dropped the case.

If the domestic violence case proceeds, the suspect could face up to two years in jail and 36 weeks of treatment for domestic violence offenders.

Source: Denver Post, "Man held after female driver fatally shot in Denver's Congress Park area," Kieran Nicholson and Yesenia Robles, Dec. 17, 2011