FORT WORTH, Texas — Jessica Contreras is still trying to wrap her head around the killing of her 22-year-old daughter, Abigail “Abby” Saldaña.
“She had a lot of love,” said Contreras. “She just was a great person. She was a hard worker, very courageous.”
Her life was cut short.
On Tuesday, Fort Worth police responded to a call about a major accident and found Saldaña shot to death in her vehicle along Highway 183.
Police detectives said Saldaña was being stalked and harassed by the suspect, 54-year-old Stanley Szeliga. Szeliga was booked into jail on a murder charge for Saldaña’s death.
“He took her away from me, and I’m gonna make sure every time he has a court date, he will see my face there,” said Contreras. “He’s gonna see that Abby was never alone.”
Contreras told WFAA that two weeks before Saldaña was murdered, the 22-year-old found a tracking device hanging from the bottom of her car. Contreras said Saldaña reported the device to authorities.
Police said the suspect followed Saldaña in the moments leading up to the shooting, but they haven’t confirmed if or how the two knew each other.
Abby’s mother, who lives in Wichita Falls, told WFAA that Saldaña moved to Dallas just a few years ago with her five-year-old son. She believes Saldaña knew the suspect from her workplace.
“I believe that he was a customer at a bar, that’s all I know,” said Contreras.
On Oct. 27, a Fort Worth SWAT team went to serve a search warrant at Szeliga's apartment in Irving and had to force their way inside after the suspect refused to come out, police said. He was found on the balcony with "several self-inflicted cut wounds" throughout his body, according to police.
Szeliga was transported to jail in Fort Worth on a $250,000 bond.
Contreras said every day without her daughter has been a living nightmare.
“Her not being here, her son without a mother, that’s the hardest part every day,” said Contreras.
Fort Worth police said the investigation is ongoing.