AirTag, AirPods lead shooter, stalker to victims

According to the probable cause affidavit for the arrest of Groves resident Jorge Manuel Herrera, 25, Nederland Police Department (NPD) officers responded to reports of a shooting on 3rd Street on June 4, at approximately 4:50 a.m.

Upon arrival, NPD Officer Adam Arceneaux spoke with the victim, who stated that her ex-boyfriend, Jorge Herrera, had sent her texts her from an unknown number – 174 times – to which she did not respond. When the victim arrived at the 3rd Street address just after 4:15 a.m., she told officers, Jorge should not have known she was there.

“Jorge advised the victim he would shoot up her house if she did not respond,” Arceneaux wrote in his report. When the victim heard multiple shots fired shortly after her arrival, Herrera was the suspected culprit.

Arceneaux reported collecting nine .40 caliber casings on the roadway in front of the crime scene, as well as multiple bullet impact points in the grass in front of the house.

The next day, Herrera was arrested for a warrantt out of Jefferson County, and just after noon that same day, NPD Officer Jacob King responded to a call from the victim, who had located an Apple AirTag tracking device on her vehicle.

Perkins, warrant in hand, then searched and took possession of Herrera’s phone at Jefferson County Jail, where the suspect reportedly admitted placing the AirTag on the victim’s vehicle and sending the threatening text messages from a friend’s phone.

“He also stated that he and a friend, Jesus Alvarez, drove by the victim’s location, and he fired the shots,” Perkins attested. “They knew the victim’s location due to the AirTag tracking device.”

Jorge indicated to the detective that he did not plan to do this, but believed the victim was cheating on him, and drove past the residence, turned around, and fired shots into the front yard, in the direction of the house, with a pistol provided by Alvarez.

In similar recent events, Kacy Malik Hoard, 27, of Beaumont, was indicted on June 21, on stalking charges, a thirddegree felony, after allegedly tracking his ex with AirPods placed in their child’s backpack.

According to the probable cause affidavit for Hoard’s arrest, Jefferson County Sheriff Detective Daniel Powell received a case file referring to burglary of a habitation and criminal trespassing on Capitol Drive in Beaumont, in addition to the file related to stalking. Deputies responded to the location and made contact with the reporting party, who stated that she was asleep on the couch when she heard the back door open and saw Hoard, her friend’s ex-boyfriend, who demanded she say where his exgirlfriend was.

The reporting party explained that she was babysitting for a friend who shares children with Hoard. Hoard had allegedly been “trespassed warned” from the property in the past, and had been arrested just two weeks prior for violating the trespass warning.

Deputies located Hoard on Highway 105, where he stated that all he did was drive by the friend’s house to see if his ex was there, and denied entering the home. However, officers recognized the suspect was wearing the same clothing the witness reported from the home invasion. Hoard was arrested for violation of a trespass warning and burglary of a habitation at the time.

Pursuant to a follow-up interview with Hoard’s ex, the mother of two of his children said that Hoard has harassed her daily with texts and emails ever since she ended the relationship.

“One message was a photo from Hoard with a gun advising he was going to kill himself,” Detective Powell noted. The victim further indicated that she has seen and videoed Hoard driving by her home, and that of her close friends, for no reason while she is there. She stated that Hoard has followed her on Highway 105 and, last December, approached her as she was leaving Target.

It was at this time, she figured out how Hoard would know exactly where she was. The victim indicated to officers that Hoard had purchased a pair of AirPods for their daughter, which can be tracked using an app on the cell phone. The device stays in their daughter’s backpack, and when the victim began leaving the backpack at home, she hoped Hoard would stop stalking her. Living in constant fear for her safety, the victim alleges that Hoard may hide out and watch when she leaves home, as she has seen him in the neighborhood when she leaves. The victim added that she was terminated from her job in April, due to Hoard calling numerous times and leaving profane messages, and approximately two weeks before the stalking incident, the victim’s friend received nude photos of her from Hoard.

In just a little over two years since hitting the market, Apple AirTag trackers have been used far outside of their original marketed use. Intended to track keys, wallets, bags and luggage, it didn’t take long for customers to decide to track people, vehicles and things that did not belong to them.

Last summer, the first death linked to AirTag stalking was recorded in Indiana, when, according to USA Today, 26-year-old Gaylyn Morris used the tracking device to follow her boyfriend, Andre Smith, engage in an argument in a bar, and run him over in the parking lot after they were asked to leave for causing a scene.

Morris was later charged with murder, the first charge of its kind involving the use of an AirTag. Countless cases of vehicle theft and tracking, specifically related to domestic partnerships, have been recorded.