Inset left: Charles Ernest Lopez (Houston Police Department) Inset right: Natanael Fuentes Reyes (Julia Fuentes/GoFundMe). Background: Wildheather Park at 14900 White Heather Drive in Houston, Texas (Google Maps)
A man has been arrested in the slayings of two longtime friends and grandfathers who were shot and killed in an apparently random surprise attack in a Houston park.
Charles Ernest Lopez, 24, has been charged with capital murder. A judge denied him bond on Tuesday due to the severity of the alleged crime, according to KHOU.
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On Friday, June 27, at about 5:45 a.m., Natanael Fuentes Reyes, 68, and Guadalupe Flores, 74, were walking in Wildheather Park at 14900 White Heather Drive in Houston when they were shot. A neighbor”s camera captured the sound of seven shots fired in quick succession; police believe the victims were ambushed and possibly shot from behind.
“As they were walking the trails, it appears that somebody either ambushed them or came up from behind them and fired multiple gunshots into both victims, and even stood over them and fired more gunshots into their body,” Houston Police Department investigator Michael Arrington told KHOU.
A witness in the park reportedly saw Fuentes Reyes’ and Flores’ bodies and noticed a man in a white, four-door sedan driving away from the scene. That witness called police, and responding medics pronounced the two victims dead.
The following Monday, officers located Lopez, the suspect, and arrested him after a traffic stop. According to the Houston Police Department, he “admitted to his role in the shooting.”
Family members of Fuentes Reyes and Flores told KTRK the men were longtime friends, grandfathers, and neighbors.
The shooting did not appear to be a robbery, as Arrington stated that nothing seemed to be missing from the victims. No motive has been given by authorities, nor is it known whether the victims and suspect had any prior relationship.
A family spokesperson for Fuentes Reyes told KHOU they are “devastated by the loss of their loved ones who were completely innocent victims.”
“Natanael and Guadalupe were unaware they were in danger while on their morning walk in their community park,” the spokesperson added. “No one should pass away in this manner; it is difficult to process the fear and pain they endured on their final moments of life.”
Court records reviewed by KTRK stated that shell casings found at the crime scene matched two other cases nearby.
A capital murder charge in Texas could result in the death penalty.
