[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A young woman in Minnesota told a would-be suitor that she just wanted to be friends… and he responded by murdering her. That’s the story cops are telling. And sadly it’s an all-too believable one…
On Monday, 27-year-old Jose Luis Lopez Xique (pictured above, in his mugshot) was charged with second-degree murder for the shooting death of 22-year-old Kayli Grace Arseth. The incident occurred back on June 16 in the Minnesota city of Richfield, according to a press release from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Lopez Xique’s bail has since been set at $2.5 million following his first court appearance on the charge, according to multiple local media reports.
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Police first became involved in the case on June 17, the day after Kayli was killed.
Her family reached out to Richfield cops to perform a wellness check after she never showed up for work that day, and nobody in her life could confirm hearing from her since the day before.
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A Gruesome Discovery
Cops went to her apartment, where they found her car in the parking lot and her front door locked. A locator app on her phone showed it was inside, so officers were able to obtain a key from the building manager to gain access. What they found is horrifying…
According to a police affidavit cited by KSTP and others, officers found Kayli “face down on her living room floor in a pool of blood with an apparent gunshot wound to her head.” Investigators later determined the fatal bullet had entered her right eye at close range and ripped through the back of her skull.
OMG.
As investigative luck would have it, detectives were able to immediately narrow down the likely time of her death. See, Kayli had left work at 4:26 p.m. on June 16 and went straight home. And just a few minutes before 5:00 p.m., a friend came by to pick her up. She never answered the door when the friend knocked, though. So cops reasoned she had to have been killed in that half-hour window.
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Indeed, cops then spoke to a neighbor who said they’d heard yelling coming from the late young woman’s apartment just after 4:30 p.m. At one point, the neighbor even allegedly heard the victim arguing with a male voice, and yelling “how could you do this to me?”
The neighbor did not hear a gunshot. But still, it gave detectives a critical starting point for their investigation.
An Online Connection
Kayli’s friends told detectives that she’d recently met a man online who went by the name Lui. The duo corresponded on Snapchat, through which investigators were able to confirm the Lui account indeed belonged to Lopez Xique. The pair had started talking on the social network, but quickly took things to in-person hangouts.
But it wasn’t long before things turned sour. At first, Kayli and Jose were real-life friends. But the affidavit showed a series of Snapchat messages in which Lui asked for “actual dates” with Arseth because he “wanted to see more effort from her in their relationship.”
Kayli turned him down in response, saying she “did not feel a romantic attraction.” Then it all came to a head on June 16. On that day, Kayli asked Lui if he was available to help work on her motorcycle. The police report noted:
“Defendant [Lopez Xique] offered to pick her up that night after work and Victim stated that she would let Defendant know about his suggested plan.”
At 2:55 p.m. — less than two hours before Kayli’s death — the arrest affidavit states she wrote this message to Lui on Snapchat after he pushed for a romance:
“I did enjoy hanging out with you, but I don’t have enough mental capacity for any type of relationship right now. I’m trying to figure out myself as well as manage my relationship with my parents and I’m overwhelmed and stressed already.”
In response, Lui wrote:
“I just want to be there for you. And you say you don’t want any other relationship, but I feel like you’re just looking for something different.”
Kayli again replied that she “just wasn’t ready for a relationship.” But Lopez Xique persisted, responding:
“Sorry if I’ve been pushy to hangout but I can tone it back we can just text and keep being that person we can talk to like we were.”
Their final exchange came at 4:06 p.m., when Lui messaged “well have fun” to Kayli regarding her plans with the aforementioned friend — the one who showed up at her apartment to an unanswered door. Less than an hour later after that message, though, Kayli was dead.
A Digital Trail
Cops were able tot rack Lopez Xique’s phone location, and it placed him in Arseth’s apartment building at 3:38 p.m. So, he was sending his last messages to her from inside her building, without her knowing it. Terrifying.
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Cops also determined his phone’s geolocation stayed at her apartment until 4:49 p.m., at which point it traveled to a hardware store. From there, his phone pinged in an area of the nearby city of West Bloomington. When cops showed up at the location of that ping, they found the mother lode. Per the arrest affidavit:
“[Officers discovered] two bags of discarded items to include 16 rounds of 9mm ammunition, a blue utility shirt, sunglasses, empty box of gauze, blue disposable gloves, a pair of shoes, and a hat. In nearby trash bins, officers recovered a plastic bag with wipes, masking tape, rubber gloves, and packaging for the sunglasses, gauze, and gloves.”
Holy s**t…
Surveillance footage from a store in the area captured Lopez Xique buying all that stuff earlier in the day, BTW.
Then, after he was tracked down and arrested last week after all these connections were made on the digital trail, cops found what they believe to be the murder weapon — a Glock 9mm handgun — inside his home.
A Legal Battle Looms
Cops read Lopez Xique his Miranda rights upon being arrested. Upon being handcuffed, he reportedly “told investigators that he wasn’t going to answer any questions but that they could keep talking and maybe ‘something will slip,’” per the affidavit.
Uh, WHAT?!
Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty released a statement on the tragedy and the prosecution:
“This was a terrible instance of extreme, targeted violence that took Kayli from her loved ones. Thoughts are with her family during this extraordinarily difficult period. Our office will prosecute Mr. Lopez Xique to protect our community and hold him accountable for his actions.”
As for Kayli, an online obituary described her as a “vibrant spirit, with a very bright, sassy, funny, and caring personality.” It read in part:
“Kayli made a positive difference in many people’s lives and will be deeply missed. She always told people, ‘well, you’re stuck with me.’ The irony is that she is now stuck in our hearts forever. We will never stop until we find justice for you.”
So sad.
Here’s more information on the tragic murder (below):
As well as Lopez Xique’s arrest and processing:
Our condolences go out to Kayli’s friends, family members, and loved ones. What an unfathomable situation.
This poor girl tried everything. And she was so respectful and gentle in letting him down easy, too. Absolutely infuriating that this was his alleged response.
R.I.P.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
For more information on violence against women, go to https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-for-survivors.
To learn more about the impact of gun violence, visit https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/gun-violence.
[Image via Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office/Gearty-Delmore Funeral Home]
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