Zander Tashman, Frisco, Texas teen charged with aiding in the drowning suicide of his girlfriend, Ellyse Suarez. On and off couple had volatile ‘love’ relationship.
An 18-year-old Texas man has been arrested and charged in connection with the drowning suicide death of his girlfriend in November. The two prior to her death had been involved in a volatile love relationship.
Zander Tashman was arrested over the weekend in Frisco, Texas following accusations he aided the suicide death of his 17-year-old girlfriend, Ellyse Suarez, whose body was recovered in a pond, the Frisco Police Department said in a released statement.
Frisco police responded to a ‘suspicious activity’ at Frisco Commons Park on Nov. 20 and recovered Ellyse’s body, the department said in its statement.
Moral obligation to stop her from killing herself?
An ‘exhaustive investigation’ led authorities to believe that Tashman aided Ellyse in her suicide, according to the statement. Police did not disclose the nature of his alleged assistance. Police also declined to explain what evidence led to the arrest of Tashman.
It remained unclear if the boyfriend implored his distraught girlfriend to take her own life and drown herself. Or as some wondered, declined to discourage her to take her life and ‘morally’ encourage the girl to live.
Tashman is now charged with aiding suicide, which has a maximum punishment of two years behind bars and a fine of up to $10,000, according to Frisco PD.
Ellyse’s mother, Azucena Massey, told NBC 5 that Tashman and her daughter were in an on-again off-again relationship over the past two years.
The relationship was ‘very meaningful’ to her daughter, the mother said.
It was ‘something that she wanted to work out so dearly that maybe she made decisions that she wouldn’t have made on a regular day,’ she said.
Massey told WFAA that she does not want to know the details of the charge against Tashman.
‘I hope and I pray that the justice system does what they need to do to make kids understand that saying nothing is not OK, and doing something to help someone that you know is not OK, is also not OK,’ she told WFAA.
Suicidal girl’s mom admits failing her own daughter
Massey also said she herself ‘minimized’ Ellyse’s calls for help when the high-school senior approached her a few weeks prior to her death.
‘My main message is, if your child has the courage to ask you for help, please help them,’ the parent said, adding, ‘It takes so much for them to admit how they feel.’
Tashman and his family released a statement through their attorney, Reynie Tinajero, about the arrest, which they claim was not justified.
‘Zander (Tashman) and his family wish this horrible tragedy had never taken place either. I’m sorry authorities made a poor and probably emotional choice to blame Zander (Tashman) and to do so in a public way,’ the statement read. ‘We’ll be making our case in a court of law. Zander (Tashman) is an exemplary college student with no prior history of criminal behavior. Zander is innocent.’
And then there were these comments on the web, that caught this author’s attention, see what you think?
‘I’m very bothered by this new trend of prosecutorial overreach where others are blamed for people’s choices. Unless he actually killed her, he shouldn’t be charged with a crime.’
‘Girl had problems. Don’t blame him.’
‘A boyfriend’s job should have been to convince her she had everything to live for. It would have been the morally correct thing to do.’
