Booking photo of Vanessa Sanchez Lopez

Booking photo of Vanessa Sanchez Lopez

An 18-year-old St. Paul woman has been charged with murder in the Feb. 2 shooting death of an East Metro area teenager in Chanhassen, the Carver County Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Vanessa Sanchez Lopez was charged with two counts of second-degree murder after she allegedly fired a gun at the teen’s face, according to a press release from the attorney’s office. One of the counts specifies the incident as a drive-by shooting, but for clarity the criminal complaint explains that the two were allegedly in a parked car together.

The victim has been identified as 17-year-old Manuel Bernal Jurado of South St. Paul, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. The manner of death has been ruled a homicide, according to a release from the agency.

The shooting came to light in the early morning of Feb. 2 when Eden Prairie police officers pursued a speeding car on Highway 62. As the car traveled from Eden Prairie to Edina, Edina police were notified and deployed stop sticks that deflated one of the vehicle’s tires.

The car continued driving until reaching the hospital, according to the complaint. At that time, two of the individuals that were present at the time of the shooting exited the car and alerted officers to the victim in the car’s passenger seat.

Edina police then notified the Carver County Sheriff’s Office.

Lopez and Jurado were dating at the time of the shooting and had been arguing about their relationship in the hours leading up to the fatal shot, according to witnesses cited in the complaint.

At the time of the shooting, there were five people — ranging in age from 15 to 23 — in the car. The car was parked in a driveway of a Chanhassen residence with Lopez in the driver’s seat and Jurado in the passenger seat.

Lopez stated that she intentionally pointed the gun at Jurado’s neck and pulled the trigger, but denied knowing that the gun was loaded or that the couple was arguing that night, according to the complaint.

Lopez’s preliminary breath test registered a .13 blood-alcohol level, according to the complaint.

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