Albuquerque Road Rage: Man Confesses To Killing 4-Year-Old Girl After Being Cut Off By Her Dad On The Freeway

In a shocking case of road rage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a man has confessed to killing a 4-year-old girl, Lilly Garcia, after her father cut off his vehicle on the freeway, according to the police.

Lilly and her 7-year-old brother were traveling in the backseat of their truck after they were picked up from school Tuesday by their father when Tony Torrez, 32, cut off their vehicle just as they were trying to exit the I-40, according to Lilly’s father. Tony emerged out of the car and exchanged words with him, at which point he began shooting indiscriminately at the truck, driving off after the maniacal episode.

The father quickly pulled the truck into the median and attempted to administer first aid on his daughter as a bystander called 911 to report “an adult holding an unresponsive child,” according to ABC News.

Paramedics rushed to the scene of the crime and tried to revive Lilly on the way to the hospital in Albuquerque, but to no avail.

It’s not clear what led the incident to escalate, but according to the father, the shooting was the result of road rage.

Police Chief Gorden Eden confirmed that Tony had confessed to being the only occupant in the car when his brawl with Lilly’s father erupted while traveling down the main east-west freeway in Albuquerque. Expressing his shock at the way the entire event unfolded, Eden said he could not quite believe that someone would shoot a 4-year-old just because of a minor road rage incident.

“To me this is one of those crimes that’s just unexplainable. This should never have happened. This is a [complete] disregard of human life.”

Chief Eden: " We need to rise up as a community and say enough is enough"

— Albuquerque Police Department (@ABQPOLICE) October 21, 2015

Tanner Tixier, a spokesperson for the police, also expressed his disgust at Tony’s actions, adding that under no circumstances should Lilly have lost her life.

“There were two children in this truck that this animal decided to open fire on just because he happened to get cut off on the freeway.”

Immediately after the incident came to the attention of the Albuquerque authorities, the police pressed for tips, offering roughly $25,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the shooter, who was apparently driving a newer-model maroon or dark red Toyota with a spoiler on the trunk and dark tinted windows. The car also had a University of New Mexico license plate.

Later, the police confirmed that an anonymous caller tipped them about the identity of the suspect, Tony Torrez, who later confessed to killing the four-year-old Lilly Garcia.

Veronica Garcia, Lilly’s mother, appeared heartbroken while speaking to CNN affiliate KOAT, saying her little girl had a sparkling personality.

“My Illiana Rose had this personality that would just be over and above her age, and this smile and these beautiful big brown eyes and would just light up a room. The first time you met her, she’d just grab your heart.”

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez released a statement after Torrez was charged with murder, saying it is completely unacceptable if a child had to lose her life as a result of a simple case of road rage.

“I just can’t express how sad it is to know that something as simple as going down the freeway and your child dies because of road rage.”

Torrez has been charged with multiple counts, including that of murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault with the intent to commit a violent felony, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, child abuse, child abuse resulting in death, and tampering with evidence.

The Albuquerque man is being held on a $650,000 cash-only bond.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]