HOUSTON, TX — A 17-year-old is facing a capital murder charge in the fatal shooting of a man in north Harris County after the man told dispatchers he was following robbery suspects, court records show.
Anthony Castro was arrested Friday, five days after 34-year-old Victor Thomas Gonzalez was shot and killed on John Albers Road. Prosecutors say the case stems from a robbery that turned deadly during the chase.
The charging complaint says Castro intentionally caused Gonzalez’s death by shooting him with a firearm while committing or attempting to commit a robbery. The complaint was filed Saturday.
Investigators say Gonzalez was chasing people who had just robbed him at gunpoint
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Gonzalez had arranged to meet suspects in order to sell property. During that encounter, investigators say, he was robbed at gunpoint.
After the robbery, Gonzalez followed the suspects in a vehicle and stayed on the phone with a dispatcher while describing where they were headed. While still speaking with dispatchers about the direction of travel, he said he had been shot.
Sheriff’s Office investigators later found him fatally wounded near 660 John Albers Road. Those accounts place the shooting in the middle of a fast-moving pursuit that began as a property sale and ended in a homicide investigation.
Charging papers say Castro intentionally caused the death with a firearm
The complaint filed in court alleges Castro deliberately shot Gonzalez. It says the teen caused the death intentionally by using a firearm during a robbery or an attempted robbery.
The document does not lay out how investigators connected Castro to the shooting. It also does not say whether police believe more than one person took part or whether any other arrests have been made.
That leaves several parts of the investigation unanswered in public records, including the sequence of events before the gunfire and the role, if any, of additional suspects. What is clear from the filing is that prosecutors are treating the case as a capital murder case tied to an alleged robbery.
Prosecutors asked for $10 million bail as court records describe flight and hidden evidence
Prosecutors asked that Castro’s bail be set at $10 million, arguing in new documents filed Saturday afternoon that he fled after the shooting, hid evidence and fired multiple shots at Gonzalez and the vehicle Gonzalez was chasing.
Those allegations, if proven, would suggest investigators believe the violence continued beyond a single gunshot and involved both the victim and the pursuing car. The filing does not describe what evidence was allegedly hidden.
New court papers show no bail was granted. Instead, a Harris County magistrate denied bail and sent the case forward to district court for further proceedings.
Castro remains in sheriff’s office custody while the case moves to district court
Castro remains in the custody of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office as he awaits further action in court. The magistrate’s decision keeps him jailed while the capital murder case proceeds.
Court records also show that Castro is scheduled for a preliminary appearance Monday at 9 a.m. That hearing is expected to be an early step in the court process as prosecutors continue presenting their case and defense attorneys begin responding.
Because the case is still in its early stages, the public record reflects allegations rather than findings of guilt. Any later hearings could add details about how investigators say the shooting unfolded and what evidence they plan to use.
The deadly encounter began with a property sale and ended on John Albers Road
What began as a planned meeting to sell property ended with a man shot dead in north Harris County. The sequence described by investigators shows how quickly an apparently routine transaction can turn violent when weapons are introduced.
Gonzalez’s attempt to follow the suspects after the robbery placed him directly back in their path. By the time he was talking with dispatchers, the situation had escalated into an active emergency response near John Albers Road.
For now, the criminal case centers on that short but violent chain of events: the alleged robbery, the pursuit, the gunfire and the arrest of a 17-year-old who prosecutors say is responsible for the killing.
