Man, 37, gunned down outside Pasadena home
Suspect kills victim with shotgun blast in back before fleeing
Pasadena police on Tuesday were searching for the man who shot and killed another man outside of his home last weekend.
Nicolas Bautista, 37, was shot around 1 p.m. Sunday at 217 Wafer St. Police found him lying on the sidewalk when they arrived.
Witnesses told police they saw a man exit a Ford F-150 four-door truck carrying a shotgun. He approached Bautista.
Bautista’s sister, Cordelia Orozco, 38, said the man in the truck accused her brother of stealing property and was so angry he forgot to put the truck in park.
Bautista didn’t speak Spanish, however, and his girlfriend had to translate, his sister said.
As the conversation got heated, Bautista turned to call the police on his cellphone when the truck driver fired a shotgun once, striking Bautista in the back.
The shooter fled in his truck, traveling north on Wafer Street.
Bautista didn’t have any enemies, Orozco said.
“Everyone who was his friend was his family,” she said.
The shooter was described as 6 feet tall, with a beard and wearing dark pants, a gray T-shirt and a baseball cap.
His truck had a registration in the back window and a small sticker on the left window behind the driver’s seat.
Bautista was transferred to Bayshore Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
“I never doubted that (Nicolas) loved me,” his sister said. “Every single time we spoke, even if it was a quick ‘hey’ or a text, he would always say, ‘I love you.’”
She said her brother was a passionate Houston sports fan, loved music and dabbled as a DJ. She said that when the family got together and played music, Bautista would interrupt and put on a better song.
He will have a music note on his gravestone.
Bautista was a maintenance technician and specialized in electrical work at SMC Industries’ Houston plant, said plant manager Jacob Peña.
Peña, 40, said the company is still trying to come to peace with the news of Bautista’s death.
“It’s too easy to say he was a good kid, but he was just that,” he said. “He always meant well and tried to do the right thing for the company. He was a very loyal employee.”
Police hope someone will recognize the shooter or the truck from surveillance video images that have been released, said Lt. Thomas Warnke of the Pasadena Police Department.
“There’s a lot more questions than answers,” he said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Houston Crime Stoppers, 713-222-TIPS, or Detective C. MacGregor at 713 4757891.
Services for Bautista are planned for this weekend.
“I want justice for my brother, that’s all I want,” Orozco said.