Woman Tied to Eva Longoria, Tony Parker Cheating Scandal Suffered From Mental Illness

The Texas woman linked to the Eva Longoria and Tony Parker cheating scandal suffered from mental illness and wrote about her struggles in a journal before dying by suicide, according to police.

Port Aransas PD Lt. Joseph Rivas tells TMZ ... Erin Benavides fired a single shot from a revolver and took her own life on October 14 while lying in bed inside her bedroom at her home.

As we previously reported ... Erin allegedly had an affair with Tony back in the day while he played for San Antonio Spurs. Eva reportedly learned of the affair after finding hundreds of texts between Erin and Tony. Erin was married to Tony's San Antonio Spurs teammate Brent Barry at the time ... and it caused both marriages to crumble.

But, according to Lt. Rivas, Erin's suicide was triggered by her day-to-day issues in her life, and she had a harder time than most dealing with them.

Rivas tells us Erin kept a journal with several dozen pages of writings detailing the problems that led to a breakdown of her mental health.

Rivas also said police received a call on the night in question from a friend of her current husband who told police he had been sent an alarming 6-word text message by Erin that made him believe she was suicidal.

The friend, who was 2 hours away at his home in Pleasanton, Texas, called the Port Aransas PD to report that he received the disturbing text and to request that police conduct a welfare check at Erin's home, according to Rivas

Rivas said three officers raced over to the house in a patrol car and banged on the front door, but no one answered.

One of the officers then allegedly peered through a window near the front door and saw Erin lying on her bed and bleeding.

As a result, Rivas said, the officers used a Halligan tool to force their way through the front door and into the house, before walking into the bedroom and finding Erin dead.

The Nueces County Medical Examiner ruled that the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the manner of death was suicide.