Man faces second-degree murder charge for killing ex-girlfriend outside Lely HS

Reporter: Anika Henanger Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Jose Alfredo Avila Pena (CCSO)

Thursday, Collier County Sheriff’s Office confirms it arrested Jose Alfredo Avila Pena, 50, for shooting and killing a woman — identified as his ex-girlfriend — who was attending night classes at Lely High School in East Naples.

According to CCSO, the shooting took place in the parking lot at Lely High School close to 8:30 p.m. Pena walked from behind a car and started shooting and yelled, “I was going to get you.”

Collier County investigators responded to the high school and found the victim down on the pavement in front of a black SUV. She was injured with multiple gunshot wounds. First responders attempted to save the woman’s life, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Security footage showed Pena parked at the school, waiting an hour for class to get out to kill his ex-girlfriend.

Two witnesses who walked with the victim to their cars identified Pena in a photo lineup as the shooter. They say, after the shooting, Pena walked back to his car and drove away.

The victim was attending adult English night classes. Both she and Pena are from Cuba and lived together for a few months.

We spoke to Linda Oberhaus with the Shelter for Abused Women & Children in Collier County, who said it was disheartening to learn the news of a reported domestic violence shooting on a school campus in the community.

“So, when we look at domestic violence fatalities, usually there is a history of domestic violence,” Oberhaus said.

Friends told deputies, after the couple broke up, Pena told people the victim deserved to die. When she called him, asking him to stop harassing her family and friends, the CCSO report said it sparked anger.

“We were looking at the homicides and Collier County over a five-year period,” Oberhaus said. “And what we found is that 33% of those were domestic violence related.”

Pena faces a charge for Second-Degree Murder.

Pen is being booked into Collier County jail.

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