Man charged in Taylor shooting death

TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) - Neighbors said it all started with a man beating down the door of an apartment in Taylor. Now, a woman is dead, a man is in jail, and others are worried about safety on their block.

Police found Rachel Ramirez, 40, dead - the victim of a shooting at an apartment in the 400 block of Old Thorndale Road. Juan Jose Estrada, 43, is now in custody, charged with murder.

Estrada was booked into the Williamson County Jail, after spending time in a nearby hospital for other reported injuries.

Neighbor Rebecca Church said she called police when a man began beating on the apartment two doors down sometime after midnight Saturday.

"I heard him break in through that metal door,” Church said. “After he got in, I heard the gunshots."

She said, seeing the broken lock and doorknob, she remembered her neighbor's complaints last week. That neighbor had recently split from her husband, but he started acting out in jealousy.

"I do know this guy was scoping her out for a while and watching from the back,” she said, “because my dog would get nervous and he wouldn't go outside, and I saw the blue KIA that her husband drove."

Church said one of her neighbor's friends, Ramirez, got in the way during the break-in and died as a result. It’s something that kept neighbors up throughout the night and for many more to come.

"When I go out to let my dog out at night,” said Jason Davis. “I'll be more careful with that now."

"I just think it's sad,” said Sara Luna, “and it's a terrible tragedy for it to happen so close to the holidays."

Luna lives in the house next door. After 38 years on this block, she still feels safe.

"It's not the location,” she said. “It's the people that move in."

Church said, if that's the case, she won't be here much longer.

"(I) actually told my landlord I'm afraid to stay here now,” she said. “Before, it was pretty peaceful."