Alexis Garcia, 20, was arrested in Corpus Christi a few hours after Noel Vernano Lopez, 55, was shot and killed on May 29.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The man arrested after a deadly carjacking on the Southwest Freeway six weeks ago now faces a capital murder charge, the Houston Police Department said on Friday.
Alexis Garcia, 20, was arrested in Corpus Christi after the May 29 shooting and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony theft.
Editor’s note: The above video originally aired on May 30.
The initial incident unfolded during the evening rush hour on Thursday, May 29, when a gray Dodge Charger and a black Toyota Prius were involved in a minor crash on the feeder road near Wilcrest Drive.
A witness told investigators that the driver of the Dodge, later identified by police as Garcia, got out of his vehicle and briefly spoke with the Prius driver, then walked south toward Wilcrest. He was described as a young, thin male with a mullet-style haircut who was wearing black pants and a t-shirt.
‘It went bam, bam, bam’
While officers were gathering information, another witness told them that he saw a man matching that description walk into traffic, and then he heard a gunshot before seeing a red Hyundai Elantra speed away.
Jeffery Telsee said he also heard the chaos erupt.
“I was right across the street and I heard when it went bam, bam, bam, and then they broke his window, too,” he said.
The Elantra was found nearby, and the driver, 55-year-old Noel Venero Lopez, had been shot.
“Five of us ran over to help him, but it was too late,” Telsee said.
Lopez was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital, but he didn’t survive. Family members described him as a wonderful husband and father.
After allegedly shooting Lopez, Garcia stole a gray Audi SQ5 at gunpoint.
The carjacking victim and the driver of the Charger involved in the initial crash weren’t hurt.
Garcia tracked to Corpus Christi
HPD investigators learned the Audi had been spotted in Corpus Christi and alerted officers there to be on the lookout.
They found the car stuck in the mud near County Road 43 and still warm to the touch. They used drones to find Garcia hiding in a nearby field and arrested him. According to HPD, he still had the handgun later linked to the Houston shooting.
Harris County court records obtained by KHOU 11 News show that Garcia was arrested in May 2023 for the third-degree felony of evading arrest. In July of that year, he was found guilty by a Harris County judge and placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for four years.
Under Texas law, Garcia was also banned from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
Further investigation led to an upgraded charge of capital murder on July 9. Garcia was extradited to Houston and remains in the Harris County Jail.