CLEVELAND, TEXAS: Francisco Oropesa, a 38-year-old Texas gunman, could face the death penalty after a grand jury indicted him for the ''execution-style'' killing of five neighbors, including a nine-year-old boy. Oropesa was charged in May after fatally shooting Diana Velásquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9, in the town of Cleveland in April.
At that time, Police noted that Oropesa shot the residents after they urged him to stop firing his rifle so near to their house because it was waking up a baby. It was also revealed that the gunman was heavily drunk when he burst into the home on April 28 and violently shot at his victims with an AR-15-style gun. The illegal immigrant fled the scene and was on the lam for four days before officials found him hiding in a closet near the site of the killings. The indictment Friday on capital murder allows now prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the case.
'We will be sure to give them an opportunity’
However, San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon revealed that a decision has not been made. ''We have not decided whether we will seek the death penalty because the defense has not had an opportunity to present any mitigation evidence for the state to consider,'' Dillon told CNN, adding ''We will be sure to give them an opportunity to do so before making that decision.'' Anthony Osso, Oropesa's attorney, predicted in May that the accusations against his client will be upgraded to capital murder.
What are charges against Francisco Oropesa?
Held on a $ 7.5 million bond, Oropesa was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, one charge for each victim he is accused of gunning down during a mass shooting on his block. Following Oropesa’s arrest, officials also arrested his wife 53-year-old Divimara Lamar Nava, who allegedly helped him flee the scene and delivered donuts to him at a bolthole just miles from the scene of the mass shooting. He was charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon. One of the suspect's friends, Domingo Castilla, was also arrested on a possession of marijuana charge. He was accused of helping the alleged shooter flee the neighborhood.
Initial accounts of the nighttime shooting described Oropesa's neighbors, a family of ten who shared a home, as pleading with him to put down his gun while they attempted to put a newborn to sleep. Oropesa, who was known for frequently firing his pistol in his yard, said, "I'll do what I want in my front yard," before opening fire with an AR-15 on five members of the family and running away. Upon their arrival, officials found two adult women dead at the front of the house, and a man lying dead in the living room. According to reports, the suspected shooter had left the US four times in the previous 14 years.
