COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs Police officers were called to The Haven apartments on the 900 block of Teal Court for a reported shooting on Tuesday, January 28th.
When officers opened the door to apartment #30 they found 41-year-old Marcus Hardin dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. According to an arrest affidavit. Hardin's girlfriend, 30year-old Erica Arellano was still in the apartment after the shooting, plus a silver pistol was found on a chair next to a shell casing.
Arellano told officers she was trying to leave the apartment to pick up her child from school when Hardin held the door closed to keep her from leaving, according to the arrest affidavit. She told police the couple was in an argument earlier in the day and this was a continuation of the disagreement.
Detectives report being told by Arellano that she had her "gun and phone in her right hand and her keys and wallet in her left hand" when Hardin hit her over the head with a bottle repeatedly. Arellano told officers when she got a few feet away from Hardin she turned and fired at him twice, according to police.
Upon further questioning, Arellano told officers "I didn't even realize I had my gun in my hand I just turned around and shot," according to the affidavit. When asked, she stated she didn't know why she fired a second time.
Officers booked Arellano on a charge of second degree murder.
Hardin's death is the second homicide investigation for the Colorado Springs Police Department in 2020.
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