Eduardo Barros, 28, was with his unidentified girlfriend and her daughter at a residence in Tijeras, outside of Albuquerque.
The couple started arguing over something and the matter got worse when it turned into a physical fight.
Barros accused his girlfriend cheating on him as he saw a text message that she received. He allegedly waved a gun threatened to kill his girlfriend and said to her, ‘Did you call the sheriffs?’
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Felicia Romero told the New York Post, inside the house, a smart speaker was connected to a surround sound system and acknowledged the comment as voice command and called 911.
Deputies arrived at the location and took the woman and her daughter to safety. Police said that the woman had injuries but was not taken to hospital, fortunately, her daughter was safe had no wound.
Romero said that is not clear that the speaker was connected to an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot device, but the Alexa virtual assistant was connected to a landline in the home.
“Barros told her she was not going anywhere and he was going to kill her,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Post.
“When 911 called her phone, Barros saw the caller ID and threw [her] to the floor. Barros then kicked her while on the ground at least 10 times in the face and stomach. Barros told [the victim] he could not believe the cops had been called and he was not going back to prison and that she knew he was a felon.
[The victim] stated she thought she was going to be killed or shot.”
“The unexpected use of this new technology to contact emergency services has possibly helped save a life,” Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III told ABC News. “This amazing technology definitely helped save a mother and her child from a very violent situation.”