Car led cops to men charged in death of Dominican politician’s son
A ditched car and dropped cellphone were the key pieces of evidence that led Houston Police to nightclub owner Hernan Torres and his two sons in connection with a brazen gas station shooting that killed the son of a Dominican politician, court documents revealed.
The phone, which belonged to the father, was left at the scene, abandoned as the accused shooters fled the April 1 shooting in a hurry, according to court records. Investigators used the phone to link Torres Sr. and his sons, Hernan Jr. and Hernando, to the attack that left Luis Pacheco Rojas, 34, dead and another man wounded outside a southeast Houston gas station in the 2400 block of Wayside.
Surveillance cameras at the gas station caught the moment when two vehicles boxed in a Cadillac SUV with Pacheco Rojas and three other men outside the gas station, prosecutors said. Torres and his 19- and 25-year-old sons emerged from the two cars, a Dodge Charger and Mercedes Benz sedan, and exchanged words with the four men, authorities said.
The first round of gunfire appeared to come from the Cadillac, before any of the Torres men, one of whom was shown brandishing a firearm, had a chance to open fire, investigators wrote in charging papers.
The father and son managed to return fire, regardless, and struck Pacheco Rojas and another man as they tried fleeing the barrage of gunfire, according to police.
Pacheco Rojas, an aspiring rapper and DJ, was the son of Alfredo Pacheco, the president of the Chamber of Deputies in the Dominican Republic.
Police described the shooting as “targeted,” but neither they nor prosecutors have drawn any connections between Alfredo Rojas’ death and his father’s political position. A prosecutor, Bryan Honeycutt, said how the Torres family knew Pacheco Rojas, if at all, remained under investigation.
Police tracked the family’s Dodge Charger to an auto body shop in South Houston, where security cameras showed two men leaving the car there and walking away. The Charger, which still had its license plate intact, was registered to the Torres family’s home, blocks away from where the gas station shooting unfolded.
Investigators also found gunfire damage to the Charger, without elaborating in court documents how that damage happened.
Torres Sr. was arrested in Philadelphia and is expected to return to Harris County to face the murder charge in connection with Pacheco Rojas’ death, as well as two counts of aggravated assault of a deadly weapon linked to an unrelated shooting outside the family’s night club in February.
Despite his recent arrest, authorities had eyed Torres Sr. as a possible murder suspect within days of Pacheco Rojas’ death, according to court records.
Prosecutors on April 4 identified the father as “a suspect in an unrelated murder case” in bail paperwork for the assault case. In that incident, Torres Sr. ordered security at his El Trebo VIP club at 6500 Dixie Drive to remove two patrons. Once outside, Torres Sr., who identified himself as a club owner to the patrons, shot one of the men in the leg, according to court records.
Torres Sr., unlike his sons, has a criminal history. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to intoxicated manslaughter.
Norwood Richardson, a courtappointed defense attorney for the eldest son, argued in court Wednesday that self-defense may have played a role in the shooting and that video evidence would corroborate that.
The sons are being held in the Harris County Jail on $2 million for their role in the shooting.
Richardson was adamant that his client, Torres Jr., 25, should have a lower bail amount, noting that he, like his brother, was born and raised in Houston. Both sons lack a criminal history.
Judge Ramona Franklin in the 338th District Court declined to lower his bail, deeming that the amount set earlier this week by a magistrate was sufficient. Court records indicate that Torres Jr. also described himself as a nightclub owner.
The younger son, Hernando, is not expected to appear in court until next week.
A judge signed an order barring the father and son from being housed near each other at the jail.