John Jefferson
Francisco Oropeza, center, is escorted to the San Jacinto County courthouse by San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers, right, for a hearing Thursday, May 18, 2023, in Coldspring, Texas. Oropeza is suspected of killing five people, including a 9-year-old boy, after neighbors asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A Mexican national deported four times from the United States will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he killed five of his Texas neighbors — including an 8-year-old boy — after they told him to stop firing his “AR-style rifle” because a baby was trying to sleep.
Francisco Oropeza, 38, learned his fate on Wednesday after pleading guilty in the deaths of Sonia Argentina Guzmán Taibot, 28, Daniel Enrique Lazo Guzmán, 8, Josué Jonatan Cáceres, 18, Diana Velasquez Alvarado, 21, Obdulia Molina Rivera, 31. He pleaded guilty in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, The Associated Press reported.
“He is not eligible for deportation. He is not eligible for anything,” San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said, the AP reported. “He will stay in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice until he breathes his last breath.”
The shooting happened on April 28, 2023, in a home in Cleveland, Texas, about 45 miles north of Houston, after one of the surviving neighbors asked Oropeza to stop firing his rifle in the front yard because his baby was trying to sleep, the Houston Chronicle reported.
That survivor, Wilson Garcia, described to local ABC affiliate KTRK the terror of losing his wife, Argentina Guzmán Taibot, and son, Daniel.
“We had company. We were going to make something to eat. The guy came out, and he was shooting. We asked him to be quiet ’cause my baby was scared,” Garcia said through a translator.
Garcia said that before they could call the police, Oropeza walked to the front door and shot his wife. He said the gunman fired at him but missed. Oropeza went into the home and went from room to room, killing the four other victims.
“I never thought that he would shoot,” Garcia said. “I never had a problem with him. I can’t believe what he did.”
San Jacinto Sheriff Greg Capers told The Associated Press the victims were shot in the head. Two female victims were found in the bedroom lying on two surviving children, authorities told ABC News. Oropeza was arrested days later after an extensive manhunt.
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