Authorities on Wednesday arrested a woman accused of hiding the man who allegedly fatally shot five people in rural Texas and helping plan his escape to his Mexico.
Divimara Lamar Nava, 53, was arrested early Wednesday after she was accused of hiding suspected gunman Francisco Oropeza, 38, in a home near Conroe, Texas, where he was found, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson said Lamar Nava previously denied knowing where Oropeza was.
While authorities identified Lamar Nava as Oropeza’s wife, jail records listed her as unmarried and sharing a home address with him. Online jail records show she’s being held on a $250,000 bond in the Montgomery County Jail on a felony charge of hindering the apprehension or prosecution of a known felon.
San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said authorities believe Lamar Nava was talking to investigators at the same time she was trying to help Oropeza.
During Lamar Nava’s probable cause hearing, a prosecutor said Lamar Nava acknowledged delivering a message from Oropeza to his cousins in the area asking for their help getting him out of the country but the cousins refused to help.
Domingo Castilla, a “friend” of Oropeza, was also arrested Tuesday in the neighborhood where the shooting took place, Dillon said. Castilla was arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession, but Dillon said authorities expect to charge him with other crimes, including hindering Oropeza’s apprehension. Bond for Castilla was set at $5,000, said San Jacinto County Justice of the Peace Judge Randy Ellisor.
“Several other arrests” were made, Chief Deputy Tim Kean of the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said at a Wednesday news conference, adding that he “can’t go into the details on that.” Kean said fewer than five other people were arrested.
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The arrests come after Oropeza, 38, was found under a pile of laundry in a closet about 20 miles from the shooting scene, which was in the Texas town of Cleveland, about 45 miles outside Houston.
Oropeza’s arrest followed a four-day search involving hundreds of law enforcement officers from local and state agencies.
Authorities have not released additional information about the additional arrests.
Shooting in rural Texas kills 5, including 9-year-old
Police said Oropeza was firing rounds in his backyard late Friday night when a neighbor asked him to shoot farther away because a baby was trying to sleep. Wilson Garcia, the father of the 1-month-old baby, said he called the police after Oropeza refused.
About 10 to 20 minutes later, Oropeza came to the house and started firing, authorities said.
Garcia’s 25-year-old wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, and 9-year-old son, Daniel Enrique Laso, were killed, along with Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18. Two of the victims were shot while shielding Garcia’s baby and 2-year-old daughter.
“Everybody that was shot was shot from the neck up, almost execution style,” San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said.
FBI tip leads authorities to Oropeza after four-day search
Oropeza was arrested in Montgomery County, Texas, after authorities received a tip about his location through the FBI’s tip line.
This came after a four-day search involving hundreds of officers, drones and scent-tracking dogs. Authorities offered a $80,000 reward for tips that led to an arrest.
Authorities spotted Oropeza on Monday in Montgomery County, where the sighting prompted the lockdown of several schools, Kean said Wednesday. Oropeza was able to evade authorities by running away on foot.
Law enforcement officials later found Oropeza in the home near Conroe, which Kean said has a personal connection to the suspect. Oropeza mildly resisted arrest and was not injured, Kean said.
Oropeza was charged with five counts of murder and taken to the San Jacinto County jail. Oropeza is being held on a bond set at $1.5 million per count, for a total of $7.5 million, Ellisor said. A Mexican national, Oropeza has been deported four times since 2009.
The FBI Houston office said it’s spelling the suspect’s last name as “Oropesa” instead of “Oropeza” in order “to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
