It can be really helpful to borrow an SUV in a pinch. However, sometimes the owner of a vehicle gets emotionally attached to it and deals can go wrong. After a woman fell behind on her payments, the owner of a Mazda SUV shot her. 

Man shoots a woman over $400 bill to rent his Mazda SUV 

A woman, 20-year-old Jessiah Mercado, was sitting in a Mazda SUV with her four-month-old baby, Messiah Diaz, and running errands before their day turned into a fatal disaster.  

The SUV owner, 23-year-old Lance Morales, pulled up and demanded the $400 he owed her for renting the vehicle. 

When she didn’t have it, he opened fire with an automatic firearm, killing the woman and child. A third person was shot but survived and a fourth passenger in the Mazda wasn’t injured. 

Mercado was borrowing the SUV from Morales for $100 a day but got behind in her payments. A witness shared that she told him her son was in the car, but he said he didn’t care. The incident occurred during broad daylight in Hartford. 

According to Bristol Press, Morals was arrested and was held with a $5 million bail, which his lawyer claims he can’t afford to post. 

He was arrested after being extradited to Connecticut from Puerto Rico. It took a massive four-day manhunt for police officers to track Morales down after the drive-by-shooting. 

Morales was previously convicted of an unrelated assault attempt and has several other pending cases in the state. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of this murder charge. 

A man could be heard yelling at Morales during court, but authorities have not released any related information about the altercation. Relatives of the victim declined to comment outside of court.