Wake Forest man apparently videoed girlfriend’s killing after ‘domestic dispute’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wake Forest police allege Josefina Tavarez was fatally shot by her boyfriend.
- Hariston Urena-Morales faces a murder charge and is being held without bond.
- Authorities are investigating Urena-Morales' legal status in the U.S.
Police have charged a Wake Forest man with fatally shooting his girlfriend Tuesday night.
Josefina Tavarez, 40, was found shot at 6:20 p.m. at the Mill Dam Road home she shared with 44-year-old Hariston Jose Ureña-Morales, according to a news release from the town of Wake Forest. She died at the hospital, officials said.
Ureña-Morales was arrested by the Wake County Sheriff’s Office on a charge of murder. He’s accused of killing Tavarez after a “domestic dispute,” according to police.
Videos recirculated on Facebook on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning appear to show Ureña-Morales walking around outside a house, a woman’s screams audible in the background, and speaking in Spanish before panning to show a woman’s body on the ground.
“May the world forgive me. My people forgive me,” Ureña-Morales appears to say in the video, which was translated by The News & Observer. “I failed. But I was forced to fail. ... The woman I loved cheated on me. My people, I’m sorry. Forgive me.”
The woman appeared to have been shot at least once in the jaw in the video.
Tavarez’s 11-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter allegedly witnessed the shooting, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser for the children posted Wednesday. It had netted $3,810 of its $16,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon.
Tavarez also had an 18-year-old child, according to the fundraiser, which said their father is now “stepping up with courage and strength to raise [the children] and give them the love and stability they need.”
Ureña-Morales contacted the Sheriff’s Office to turn himself in Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the town of Wake Forest. He provided his location to deputies, who accompanied Wake Forest police to arrest him.
He was booked into the Wake County jail without bail, court records show. Officials are working to determine his legal status in the United States, which remained unclear Wednesday morning, according to court documents.
This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 8:38 AM.
