Man Shot Woman in Chest, Police Say

A New Port Richey man has been arrested after shooting a woman in the chest Sept. 9. 

Two days before the shooting, Raymond Wagner met a woman named Rachel Marie Waters and agreed to pay her for sex, according to an arrest report from the New Port Richey Police Department. Waters said he had been driving a red 2009 Chevrolet HHR.  Wagner paid her $60, but she didn’t have sex with him. Instead, she fled with the money.

Just before 8 p.m. on Sept. 9, Wagner, 50, approached Waters and a woman named Elaina Maria Hadjiyerou on U.S. 19 and got into an argument with them, according to the arrest report. The two women are domestic partners, according to the report. 

Both victims attempted to evade Wagner, but he pursued them along U.S. 19 until he accosted them in the parking lot in the parking lot of Venom Custom Choppers at 7430 U.S. 19 in New Port Richey. The argument continued there, according to the arrest report, and Waters, 24, told a detective that Wagner threatened to kill them several times.

Wagner produced a handgun and fired a round. The round struck Hadjiyerou, 22, in the left side of the chest. 

Wagner fled, but Waters remembered his tag number and gave it to the police. A registration check on the Chevrolet led police to Wagner’s home.  The Chevy was parked there, and officers saw him messing with the tag.

When police took Wagner into custody, he had a loaded 9mm Hi-Point semi-automatic handgun on him.

Wagner, of 5725 Mitchel Court, New Port Richey, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault

Hadjiyerou was taken to a hospital, and her most recent condition was listed as critical but stable.