A Utah man is behind bars after strangling his girlfriend to death following an argument over a vape cartridge.
Daniel Padilla-Ang of Orem called 911 on Saturday to report that he had killed his girlfriend, 20-year-old Sandra Robles. During the call, he stated that he’d been drinking and needed to be arrested.
When emergency responders arrived at the basement apartment in the area of 800 South 750 West, they found Padilla-Ang on his knees with his bloody hands behind his head. In a bedroom, Robles was discovered with significant facial injuries. Life-saving measures were performed, but it was too late. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 27-year-old suspect admitted that he and his girlfriend of four months got into a heated argument when he snatched the broken vape cartridge from her. He claims Robles hit him, and he responded by punching her in the face and choking her to death. He also confessed that after Robles fell to the floor following the strangling, he continued striking her face. After realizing she was deceased, he sent two text messages to family members, confessing that he “just killed someone” and wouldn’t be seeing them for a while. During the talk with Orem police, Padilla-Ang said that “he was there to face the consequences.”
Padilla-Ang has a long history of domestic violence. At the time of his arrest, he was on probation for two domestic violence incidents. He is being held without bond on one count of first-degree felony murder.
