Phillip Oscar Ovalle, 21, of 2200 Hollywood, Galveston suffered a gunshot wound to the head early Tuesday morning, Houston police said.
The shooting happened inside a maroon Nissan Altima in Houston. According to witnesses inside the vehicle, the suspect, who was a passenger in the rear seat of the vehicle, for reasons unknown, placed a handgun to the back of Ovalle's head and pulled the trigger.
Michael Anthony Torres, 21, was charged with murder, Houston police said in a press release. Torres is a Camp Lejuene Marine who was back in U.S. on two-week leave from duty in Iraq.
Ovalle, 21, recently returned from a six-month deployment to Ali Base, Iraq, where he served as an installation entry controller and response force member for the 407th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. In addition to his primary job in Iraq, he contributed to Operation Reach Out by handing out clothing, toys, food and water to needy families near Ali Base.
Ovalle, an Airman 1st Class, had been in the Air Force since March 2004 and at Seymour Johnson since November 2004.
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