Five Lives Lost to Paranoid Animus

"Because of the county where the case would be tried, the court system there, the prosecution, the types of jurors they're gonna get, which are mostly rural conservative jurors, I think it's a pretty fair bet this guy is gonna get hit with five death penalty sentences."  

Criminal Defense Attorney Kent Schaffer

 

"He told us he was on his property, and he could do what he wanted."

"I told my wife, 'Get inside. This man has loaded his weapon'."

"My wife told me to go inside because he won't fire at me, I'm a woman."

"I'm trying to be strong for my children. My daughter sort of understands. It is very difficult when she begins to ask for mama and for her [older] brother."

Wilson Garcia, resident of rural town north of Houston

 

This was a tragedy, a mass shooting in a rural town in Texas where residents are accustomed to some of their neighbours shooting off weapons for no particular reason. Wilson Garcia and  his wife Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, were concerned that a neighbour's shooting was disturbing their month-old son, awakening him from sleep. Mr. Garcia along with two others approached the neighbour's house to ask him to please shoot somewhat further from the house, to allow the crying baby to sleep in peace. 

The houses in the neighbourhood are distanced from each other, since each stands on an acre lot. The neighbour, 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza was incensed and refused the request. Mr. Garcia returned to his house where he and his wife were playing host to a group of 15 people, friends joining them on a church retreat.  On his own property, Mr. Garcia called police to report the disturbance. There were in fact, five calls asking for help and each time the police dispatcher informed help was on the way.

Some ten to 20 minutes since Mr. Garcia had walked back from his neighbour's house after his fruitless mission, he noted his neighbour running toward his house, reloading his weapon. When the gunman reached the Garcia home he began firing. Sonia Argentina was at the front door, and she was shot to death. In recollection, Mr. Garcia later said his neighbour appeared determined to kill everyone.

Daniel Enrique Laso, Mr. Garcia's nine-year-old son was shot dead, as well as  two women, killed trying to shield the Garcia baby and 2-year-old daughter from the carnage. One of the women, Mr. Garcia related, urged him to leave through a window "because my children were without a mother and one of their parents had to stay alive to take care of them", he explained.

Police searched for clues potentially leading them to the suspect, going door to door while Gov.Gregg Abbott posted a reward of $50,000 for the man's apprehension. The FBI and local officials raised the reward total to $80,000 for information leading to the killer. The AR-15-style rifle used by Oropeza in the shooting rampage was recovered by police. Other weapons were found in his home. 

Police interviewed the shooter's wife multiple times, and each time she denied knowing where he might be. In the end, he was discovered hiding in the house under a pile of laundry. Which led police to arrest and charge both the killer and his common-law wife. Francisco Oropeza, a Mexican national, had been deported previously from the U.S. His victims were originally from Honduras. Everyone is eager to live in the United States anticipating a more secure future for themselves and their families.

Aside from Sonia Argentina Guzman and Daniel Enrique Laso, the other three victims were Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, all from Honduras, all  tragically wasted lives.

"My heart is with this … boy [and his family]."

"He was in my county, five people died in my county, and that is where my heart is – in my county, protecting my people to the best of our ability."

Local sheriff, Greg Capers of San Jacinto

Law enforcement in search of shooting suspect Francisco Oropeza near the scene where five people, including a child, were killed on April 29, 2023, in Cleveland, Texas. Go Nakamura/Getty