Christian Joel Villalba-Santos, 25, faces charges of domestic battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

A woman who was shot Saturday while she and a man were in a car along Interstate 75 is recovering at a hospital.

The woman, whose name was not released, was listed in stable condition Tuesday, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. She was flown to the hospital from Sumter County on Saturday.

Sheriff's detectives said Christian Joel Villalba-Santos, 25, of San Antonio, Texas, was driving the vehicle and shot her. He was booked into the Marion County Jail Sunday afternoon on charges of domestic battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Jail records show Villalba-Santos remained at the jail without bond on Tuesday, with his next court date is Nov. 19.

MCSO detectives did not disclose the relationship between the woman and Villalba-Santos.

According to a report by Inspector Erik Dice, Detective Travis O'Cull and Lt. Claude McQuaig went to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office to interview Villalba-Santos in reference to the shooting. At the time of the shooting, the vehicle was on I-75 southbound near Mile Marker 350, which is the State Road 200 exit.

Officials listened to a 911 call in which Villalba-Santos said he had hit the woman and then shot her. The man and woman had been on their way to Tampa, officials said.

Villalba-Santos told O'Cull and McQuaig he lost his temper and hit the woman in the face three times. He said he stopped the car and tried scaring her with a semi-automatic Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun that was in the driver's side door, according to the arrest report. The man said he pointed the firearm at her and racked the slide back. The gun discharged, he said, though he didn't remember squeezing the trigger.

He told the detectives he did not mean to shoot the woman. Sumter officials told MCSO detectives that the woman had a gunshot wound to her upper abdomen and it appeared the bullet came out through her right thigh. She also had injuries to her face.

Villalba-Santos said he called his mother and the woman's mother before calling 911. He told the detectives he and the woman had been arguing about him cheating on her a few months ago.

The man told the detectives that once the woman was shot he tried to find a hospital and continued driving until he was stopped by Sumter County sheriff's deputies.

On Saturday, Ocala police and Marion County sheriff's deputies tried stopping the vehicle, but Villalba-Santos kept driving until he was stopped in Sumter County, according to initial reports.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.