Charles Lopez, 24, is charged with killing Natanael Fuentes Reyes, 68, and Guadalupe Flores, 74, while they were walking in Wildheather Park on June 27.
HOUSTON — The man accused of killing longtime neighbors during their morning walk last week remains in the Harris County Jail after a judge again denied bond Wednesday morning.
Charles Ernest Lopez, 24, was arrested Monday and charged with capital murder in the double shooting on Friday, June 27, at a southwest Houston park.
The victims, Natanael Fuentes Reyes, 68, and Guadalupe Flores, 74, were both grandfathers who were ambushed and shot from behind multiple times. It happened around 6 a.m. on a walking trail in Wildheather Park on White Heather Drive.
A vigil is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight at the park.
‘Two innocent victims’
Despite the arrest, the double shooting remains a baffling case with no clear motive or apparent connection between the victims and the man accused of killing them.
“One moment you have two retirees who are living and thriving and enjoying their retirement — and now you’re planning two funerals,” victim’s advocate April Aguirre said after Lopez’s preliminary hearing.
Aguirre describes it as something scary movies are made of, with seniors who appeared to be randomly targeted.
“These are two innocent victims with two wonderful families that didn’t deserve this,” Aguirre said.
A woman who was also walking on the westside trail found the bodies and called 911. She told detectives the shooter sped away in a white, four-door sedan. They used surveillance cameras to get the license plate number.
On Monday, June 30, members of the HPD Southwest Patrol Crime Suppression team spotted the vehicle and stopped the driver.
They said Lopez confessed to his role in the shooting and was arrested and charged. A gun found in his console matched the ballistics in the park shootings.
“We don’t really know what motive caused these murders; all we know is that he confessed to being the one who did it,” Chief Prosecutor Michael Simons said. “It’s very sad, our hearts go out to the families, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that they get justice.”
Mario Madrid is the court-appointed attorney who met briefly with Lopez before the hearing. Madrid said his client is a husband and father with no criminal history remotely on par with a double murder.
“He does not present as somebody charged with a case like this,” Madrid said.
KHOU 11 confirmed that the gun allegedly found on Lopez has been tied through ballistics to two other cases. One was reports of shots fired in Pearland on June 12, according to the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office. They said the shooter was gone when deputies arrived, so no arrest was made.
“Now, whether that was Lopez or not, we would be unable to determine,” BCSO told KHOU 11 in a statement.
The Houston Police Department is handling the other case, but they aren’t releasing details.
We checked court records, and Lopez only had two priors. In 2021, he was charged with firing a gun in a metro area. The charge was dismissed after Lopez completed a gun safety course and community service. In 2022, he received deferred adjudication for criminal trespass.