Francisco Oropeza sentenced to life without parole in 2023 shooting deaths of five neighbors

A man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting deaths of five of his neighbors near the Houston area.

Franciso Oropeza accepted a guilty plea on Wednesday in connection to the deadly April 2023 shooting in Cleveland, Texas.

Texas mass shooting

The backstory:

At 11:30 p.m. on April 28, Oropeza was shooting an AR-15 outside his home in the 100 block of Walters Road in Cleveland, Texas. Wilson Garcia, who was in the home next door, asked Oropeza to stop because there was a child inside who was scared.

That’s when Oropeza loaded his gun and forced himself inside their home shooting at those inside and killing five.

The victims were identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.

Authorities began a four-day manhunt to find Oropeza who fled after the shooting.

Eventually, he was found by border patrol agents in Conroe in a home hiding underneath some laundry. According to documents, the home belonged to an aunt of Oropeza, and his domestic partner, Divimara Nava, 53, who had it previously listed as her home. Nava was also arrested and is accused of helping him hide. 

Related

Francisco Oropeza pleads not guilty in Cleveland mass shooting which killed 5

Francisco Oropeza has pled not guilty in the mass shooting that killed 5 people, including an 8-year-old, back in April.

The following video was uploaded in July 2023.

The Source: The information in this article was provided by FOX 26's Isiah Carey and previous FOX 26 reporting

Crime and Public SafetyMass ShootingsCleveland