Less than a month after a murder at a baby shower, the man accused of killing a father of six is out on bond.
Angel Mendoza, 39, was shot and killed at a home on Pepperwood Trail in Norcross on April 16.
Esteven Avila-Vega, 26, was arrested a day after the shooting and charged with murder.
On May 10, he was released from jail after a judge granted a $70,000 bond.
“I’m not going to be okay until justice is served,” Mendoza’s wife, Marisol Aranda, told Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson. “Angel was a true angel.”
Mendoza and his wife were at the baby shower as guests when witnesses say that Avila-Vega started firing a gun recklessly at the home on Pepperwood Trail in Norcross.
“There were kids running around and they thought it was okay to be shooting,” Aranda said.
Witnesses told police Mendoza took Avila-Vega’s gun before Avila-Vega left and returned with another gun to shoot Mendoza.
Prosecutors say he shot Mendoza 13 times.
Court documents show that Judge Melodie Conner issued a $70,000 bond on May 9, citing Avila-Vega’s community ties and lack of prior felony convictions.
Prosecutors strongly objected to the bond being issued.
“It just angers us that this man doing what he did is out on the streets,” said Aranda. “Sleeping in his bed, when my husband can’t do that, when my kids can’t see their dad.”
Aranda sat in court proceedings and says Avila-Vega’s attorney is arguing that he opened fire in self-defense.
“He’s claiming self-defense but there’s no way that it’s self-defense after 13 shots,” she said.
The suspect’s girlfriend, Sulma Mejia-Orellana, 26, was also arrested after the shooting for allegedly hitting Mendoza with a beer bottle.
She is also out on bond.
Avila-Vega is able to work and be home while out on bond but must wear an ankle monitor and follow a curfew.
He is required to attend his next court date.
“How can we feel safe with him out here with people like that running around and the judge being okay with him being out in the streets?” Aranda asked.