Man Strangles Girlfriend To Death Out Of Anger Over Defective Vape Cartridge

A Utah man reportedly strangled his girlfriend to death after the couple engaged in a heated argument over a defective vape cartridge on Saturday, March 26.

The accused, identified as 27-year-old Daniel Padilla-Ang was arrested by officers on early Saturday morning, March 26, after the Orem Police Department received a 911 call from the suspect in which he admitted to choking his girlfriend to death while they were drinking, the Daily Beast reported.

When officers showed up at Padilla-Ang's basement apartment near Utah Valley University in the area of 800 South and 700 West, they found the suspect kneeling, facing away from the door, with his hands behind his head. His hands reportedly appeared to have blood on them.

As law enforcement ventured inside his flat, the victim, identified as Sandra Robles, 20, was located in a nearby bedroom, unconscious and not breathing. Robles had significant facial injuries and her head was swollen and covered in blood. After the discovery of Robles' body, medics arrived shortly after and pronounced her dead at the scene, KUTV2news reported.

During police interrogation, Padilla-Ang recounted that he had been in a relationship with Robles for the past four months. He told the officers that Robles had come over to his home earlier that day and that the two had started drinking.

According to the accused, Robles had a vape cartridge that was broken. However, when he grabbed it from her, the victim reportedly hit him and pushed him. Out of anger, he grabbed her neck with his right hand and started to choke her before proceeding to punch her in the face. The assailant then started to choke her with both of his hands until she was no longer moving.

After strangling Robles to death, Padilla-Ang took a couple of shots of alcohol and sent two text messages to family members stating that he had just killed someone and that he wouldn’t be seeing them for a while. During questioning, the accused admitted numerous times that he had killed Robles and that he needed to be locked up.

Following this, a judge ruled Padilla-Ang to be an “elevated risk” to the community and ordered him held without bail. In the last eight years, Padilla-Ang has been arrested five times, including two times for domestic violence.