John Jefferson
Clockwise from top left: Christian Ivan Cavazos, Ramiro Reyes, Rosalva Reyes, Gonzalo Andrew Gonzalez, Jonathan Jimenez, and Ryan McGowan (Harris County District Attorney’s Office).
A documented Houston gang member will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing five people in three separate bouts of gun violence, authorities in the Lone Star State announced.
Christian Ivan Cavazos, 22, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, over five years after the quintuple fatal “crime spree” that began in September 2019, according to a press release issued by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
“So many people, so many families will never have peace because of the indiscriminate violence this man inflicted on our community,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “We swore an oath to see that justice is done, and in this case justice demanded that this man be sentenced to life in prison.”
On Sept. 6, 2019, Cavazos was a passenger in a vehicle with other men, according to the DA’s office. Upon spotting another group of young men in another vehicle, Cavazos fired into the other car, wounding the driver and forcing him to pull over in an industrial area near Jersey Village, a small town and suburb of Houston.
Then, the gang member got out of his car, walked over to the stopped car, and executed Ryan McGowan, 19, who was in the back seat.
On Sept. 25, 2019, Cavazos and his peers struck again. This time, they saw a purple Dodge Charger — which they mistook for belonging to a rival gang member — and followed close behind, the DA said.
Two people were shot and killed by Cavazos as they exited the purple car late that night in northwest Houston: Ramiro Reyes, 65, and his wife, Rosalva Reyes, 63. At the time, they were returning home from a nearby hospital where the wife’s mother had just passed away.
Roughly three months passed.
Then, two days after Christmas, on Dec. 27, 2019, Cavazos made himself the fatal triggerman yet again, the DA’s office said.
This time, in a wild drive-by shooting, he fired onto the film set of a music video in north Harris County — Jonathan Jimenez, 20, was killed along with hired videographer Gonzalo Andrew Gonzalez, 22.
Seven other people were injured from the dozens upon dozens of rounds fired at the film set on Smart Street that night.
The since-condemned man was facing a capital murder charge — which would have qualified him for the death penalty in Texas. In the end, he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder. Prosecutors relayed details about all five slayings during his sentencing hearing.
“Christian Cavazos is a dangerous man who got what he earned, he got what he deserved when he was sentenced to life,” Assistant District Attorney Napoleon Stewart, who prosecuted the case, said. “Anybody who was unfortunate enough to cross his path got hit by bullets, and many of them died. He created a lot of innocent victims, and we’re glad we were able to get justice for the victims and their families.”
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