TLDR
Roland Contreras, 35, received a 50-year Texas prison sentence for murdering 33-year-old teacher Gabrielle Felis Del Angel, shot while waiting in a Jeep outside a San Antonio taco stand, and for aggravated assault for attempting to shoot her husband.
Roland Contreras sentenced to 50 years for 2023 murder, assault in taco stand shooting. pic.twitter.com/m1VOsZl8gx
— FOX SA (@KABBFOX29) March 29, 2026
A late-night stop at a San Antonio taco truck ended with a mother of three fatally shot in her vehicle while her husband tried to drive them away. With a jury verdict reached in about 30 minutes, the case moved quickly from street confrontation to decades-long punishment.
According to the Bexar County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, Contreras was convicted of murder for killing Del Angel and of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for trying to shoot her husband. The sentence, handed down in a Texas state court, effectively sets the course of his life through middle age and beyond.
Late-Night Confrontation Outside a Taco Stand
On April 6th, 2023, Del Angel and her husband went to a taco truck on the 1800 block of Southwest Military Drive in San Antonio. As described in the charging narrative and reported by Law & Crime, the husband waited in line while Del Angel remained in their Jeep nearby.
Police said Contreras approached the husband, pulled a gun, and began yelling at him. The husband ran back to the Jeep and tried to drive away. According to the prosecutors’ account, Contreras continued to pursue the vehicle and fired, striking Del Angel in the chest as the couple attempted to escape. She was later pronounced dead after her husband drove to a nearby gas station and called for help.
From Investigation to Rapid Verdict
Investigators have said Del Angel was not the intended target and that the husband later identified Contreras as the attacker, recognizing him through a prior connection involving an ex-girlfriend, according to KSAT. Video from the scene showed a large bullet hole in the driver’s side window of the Jeep as law enforcement worked the crime scene.
Authorities attempted to arrest Contreras later that night and used tear gas at his residence, but did not find him inside. He was taken into custody about a month later. At trial, jurors needed roughly half an hour to find him guilty on both counts, a timetable that underscored how little dispute there was over his role once the case reached court.
Victim’s Life, Prosecutor’s Message, and Unanswered Motive
Del Angel, a special education teacher and mother of three, was described in her obituary as a devoted parent. The obituary stated, “She was a loving and caring mother who adored her children more than anything in this world. Everything she did was for them.” Those personal details now stand alongside the procedural record that defines her death in court files.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales framed the outcome as part of a broader strategy against gun violence, saying, “Today we reaffirm our stand against violence. Our goal will continue to be seeking justice on behalf of victims and holding offenders accountable for their unlawful actions.” Public records and reporting do not clarify what sparked the initial confrontation, leaving the precise motive for the encounter unresolved, even as the legal process has concluded with a lengthy sentence.
The case captures how a brief, late-night interaction in a public space can escalate into lethal violence in seconds, then move rapidly through the courts. What remains is a long prison term for Contreras, an enduring loss for Del Angel’s family, and an unresolved question about why the confrontation began at all.
