Two Texas teens, Fernando Amaya and Christopher Portillo Luna, have been arrested and charged with murder and other crimes after a shooting incident that left 41-year-old Marcos Cotto Torres dead. The teens, aged 17, allegedly mistook Torres for another man and opened fire at an apartment in west Houston.
The Deadly Mistake
The incident occurred on March 18, 2024, when Amaya and Luna went to an apartment complex after Amaya believed his girlfriend was cheating on him. The two suspects allegedly went to the apartment of Amaya’s romantic rival and fired a hail of bullets. However, they ended up killing the wrong person.
When police arrived at the apartment complex just before 1 a.m., they found two men had been shot. Torres was discovered in an upstairs bedroom, unresponsive and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including to his head. Paramedics declared him dead at the scene.
Another person, a second victim, was found suffering from a gunshot wound to his buttocks and was transported to the hospital for treatment.
The Motive and Investigation
According to the police affidavit, the motive behind the shooting was Amaya’s belief that his girlfriend was cheating on him with a man who lived in the apartment. This man, however, was not injured in the attack. Later, Amaya’s girlfriend told detectives that Amaya had threatened to shoot up the apartment and then kill himself.
Amaya appeared to carry out his threat, firing shots from an AK-style rifle, which left behind 84 spent shell casings at the scene.
Surveillance footage showed Amaya and Luna fleeing the scene in a white SUV that belonged to one of their family members. Local news footage showed the apartment windows boarded up and bullet holes in the concrete walls.
Arrests and Legal Proceedings
Amaya was arrested by police hours after the shooting, and Portillo Luna was taken into custody a few days later, on Thursday. Both teens are being held in jail with bonds set at over $1 million each. Their next court appearance is scheduled for April 29, 2024.