Tag Archives: Kristene Chapa

Crime Stoppers video offers new details in shooting of S. Texas lesbian couple

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Tri-County Crime Stoppers recently released a video with more details about the June 22 shooting of lesbian couple Kristene Chapa and Mollie Olgin in Portland.

Chapa, 18, and Olgin, 19, were found shot in a park the following morning. The video mentions that the teens were walking late a night when they saw a man walk past.

A few minutes later he returned with a mask and gloves. He forced them to a secluded area before assaulting and shooting them.

Portland police have said that no evidence existed to lead police to believe the shooting was a hate crime. But after months of investigating, police received few leads.

People have donated to raise money for a reward for information, including North Texans. Currently $20,000 in reward money is being offered for information.

The suspect is described as a white male in his 20s, 5 feet, 8 inches tall with a thin build, weighing 140 pounds, with brown hair and a scruffy beard.

Anyone with information should call the Tri-County Crime Stoppers at 800-245-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online. Reports may be made anonymously.

Watch the video below.

Continue reading “Crime Stoppers video offers new details in shooting of S. Texas lesbian couple” »

—  Anna Waugh

S. Texas lesbian reflects 3 months after shooting that killed her girlfriend

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It’s been three months since Kristene Chapa, 18, and girlfriend Mollie Olgin, 19, were found shot in a park in Portland, Texas.

Olgin did not survive, but Chapa was found still breathing early the next morning and was rushed to the hospital. She eventually was able to communicate with police and helped them sketch a photo of the man responsible.

Chapa updated her Facebook status this weekend, reflecting on her recovery and life without Olgin.

“Today marks 3 months since my accident. I’ve learned life is so fragile and cherish the people you have in your life love them don’t take things for granted and buy pepper spray! they deserve it!” Chapa wrote, according to NBC News.

She also posted lyrics to the Kenny Chesney song “Who You’d Be Today,” a song about a person who died too young.

“I still need time but I am happy,” Chapa wrote. “I’m moving on.”

Moving on also includes dating again. Chapa noted in early September she was seeing someone else.

“I know people deal with things different and I’m not gonna sit in my room and cry over what happened,” she wrote. “I was heartbroken but I’m not gonna be single for the rest of my life … she’s in my heart but I needed something else. I wanted a girl to be there for me and understand what I’m going through.”

Chapa is still recovering in a rehabilitation facility while police await more leads that will provide more answers and justice for Chapa and her family. Dozens of leads were called in early on in the case but have since dwindled down to few.

“I love that people pray for me,” she wrote. “I really think that’s why I’m recovering so fast.”

Portland Police Chief Randy Wright has previously said that no evidence existed to lead police to believe the shooting was a hate crime.

The suspect is described as a white male in his 20s, 5 feet, 8 inches tall with a thin build, weighing 140 pounds, with brown hair and a scruffy beard.

North Texans have helped raise money for a reward for information.

Anyone with information should call the Portland Police Department at 361-777-4444. Reports may be made anonymously.

—  Anna Waugh

North Texans donate more than $2K to help catch teen lesbian couple’s shooter

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Kris Wong of Youth First Texas, left, and Cd Kirven of GetEQUAL Texas, right, are shown with a representative from Tri-County Crime Stoppers, center

North Texans Kris Wong, C.d. Kirven and Mark Reed traveled to Aransas Pass near Portland to deliver two checks to Tri-County Crime Stoppers totaling $2,125 to help solve the shooting of a teenage lesbian couple.

On June 22, 19-year-old Mollie Olgin was murdered and 18-year-old Kristene Chapa was shot in a park in Portland, Texas. A sketch of the shooter has been released, but there are no suspects.

“The exciting thing about yesterday was the Portland City Council approved $15,000 and two police departments committed $5,000 each,” Reed said.

That $25,000 will go toward a Crime Stoppers reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. The money donated by the trio will be used to make a video reenactment of the shooting that will be filmed in two weeks to be published online and shown on local TV news outlets.

“Funds we delivered will be used to advertise the video,” Reed said. “They are very focused on getting this crime solved.

Kirven began the fundraising effort at a vigil held for the couple on Cedar Springs Road on June 30.

Wong, 17, a member of Youth First Texas Collin County, organized a bowling tournament in Plano to raise additional funds for the reward fund. That event exceeded her $1,000 goal.

—  David Taffet

YFTCC exceeds fundraising goal for reward in lesbian couple’s shooting

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 More than 60 people laced up their bowling shoes Saturday to help Youth First Texas Collin County score almost $400 more than expected for its fundraiser.

The group raised $1,379.84 during the event in Plano, after planning the event a few weeks before to raise $1,000, YFTCC member Kris Wong said.

Wong wanted to help fund a Crime Stoppers reward to help find the shooter who shot lesbian couple Mollie Olgin and Kristene Chapa in Portland, Texas, in June.

The event was the biggest fundraiser YFTCC has ever organized and the first event Wong has headed up, she said.

“I was pretty ecstatic about it,” she said, adding that she was thrilled with the community’s support.

Wong teamed up with Dallas activist Cd Kirven at the Dallas vigil for the couple. Kirven had expressed a desire to raise a reward and Wong said the event was already planned as a social, so it was turned into a fundraiser.

The teen couple’s attack resonated with Wong, who said she couldn’t imagine if one of her friends was shot or killed.

“It’s sad because they’re my age and they’re too young for, we’re too young for that, because we just started getting out into the world for it to end so quickly,” she said. “It kind of hits home.”

While Wong hopes the money helps catch the shooter as an incentive for those with information to come forward, if the money doesn’t get used, she said it will be donated to YFTCC for future events and causes.

—  Anna Waugh

How to get tickets for YFTCC fundraiser

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Vigil that inspired the fundraiser

In Friday’s paper we printed a brief about a fundraiser Youth First Texas Collin County is running to raise money for Crime Stoppers in connection with the murder of Mollie Olgin and the shooting of Kristene Chapa. But we forgot to let you know how to get tickets.

Go here to get tickets on the Collin County Gay and Lesbian alliance website.

YFTCC youth Kris Wong, who will attend Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall, came home from the Dallas vigil held for Olgin and Chapa energized to do something. With YFTCC volunteer Lisa Mashigian, they put together the bowling fundraiser with the goal of raising $1000. With three weeks preparation time, they hope to get 60 people involved.

“The response from Collin County LGBTQA organizations and people has been wonderful,” Mashigian said.

CCGLA has set up a payment system and is sending the event out to its members. Equality Texas, BB&T, Business Network of Collin County, YFT Dallas and other individuals have made donations to the gift bags. Collin County employee resource groups have also been notified.

Mashigian said that this is not just a Collin County event and hopes to see a good turnout.

—  David Taffet

Fort Worth’s Brite Divinity School holds vigil for teen lesbian couple shot in S. Texas

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Participants bow their heads during the vigil on June 29.

Oak Lawn wasn’t the only place in the DFW area where a vigil was held for the teenage lesbian couple who were shot in a park near Corpus Christi on June 23. Mollie Olgin, 18, was killed, and Kristene Chapa, 19, remains hospitalized.

Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth held a vigil on its campus Friday. The vigil was led by Brite’s Executive Vice President and Dean Joretta Marshall and professor Stephen Sprinkle. Both are openly gay.

Sprinkle said he believed it was the only vigil for Olgin and Chapa held on the campus of a divinity school. Brite President Newell Williams issued a pastoral response that was read at the vigil. The full text is after the jump.

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—  David Taffet