Man who killed five people after a neighbor complained about his gunfire gets life in prison
Francisco Oropeza, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty to capital murder of multiple persons as part of a deal to avoid a possible death sentence, San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon told The Associated Press. Oropeza was offered the deal after prosecutors had lengthy discussions with family members of the victims, he said.
U.S. immigration officials said Oropeza had been deported four times between 2009 and 2016. But Dillon said he will spend the rest of his life behind bars in Texas.
'He is not eligible for deportation. He is not eligible for anything,' Dillon said. 'He will stay in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice until he breathes his last breath.'
Oropeza entered the pleas Wednesday after listening to emotional testimony from family members of the victims, Dillon said.
Oropeza's attorney, Anthony Osso Sr., didn't immediately respond to a Wednesday phone message seeking comment. He previously said that tension between Oropeza and his neighbors had been building for quite some time.
Police say Oropeza stormed into his neighbor's house on April 28, 2023, after being asked to stop firing his gun late at night. All five victims, including a 9-year-old boy, were from Honduras. The baby wasn't harmed.
The shooting happened in the rural town of Cleveland, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Houston. Police say Oropeza fled the neighborhood after the shooting, setting off an intense search. He was was eventually arrested near Conroe, roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the crime scene.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Ethiopian migrants face kidnappings and death, leaving behind heartbroken families
When 19-year-old Nigus Yosef told his parents he was going to leave home in Ethiopia's Tigray region and try to get to Saudi Arabia, they begged him not to go. Two of their children had already made the crossing, via the Gulf of Aden and then war-torn Yemen. Yosef's brother is now in jail in Yemen for entering that country illegally. His sister made it to Saudi Arabia, also illegally, which means it will be difficult for her to leave. On August 3, 2025, Yosef and five friends from his town of Adi Qeyih boarded a boat bound for Yemen. That night, it capsized. Only 56 people of the nearly 200 people on board survived. Yosef was not one of them. 'His parents are in deep shock and grief,' his uncle, Redae Barhe, said in a telephone interview. 'They can't even voice their sorrow.' Nigus Yosef is one of 132 missing from the boat that capsized this month; one of countless people from African countries gone missing on a journey in search of a new life. Journeys fraught with danger The families they leave behind know that there are high odds of misfortune. Boats are often overcrowded, unable to withstand rough seas. Once on dry land, there are other dangers. Migrants are vulnerable, with few resources or protection, making them easy prey for human traffickers and kidnappers. Senait Tadesse says that her 27-year-old daughter made it to Yemen, only to be held captive by kidnappers who communicated with Tadesse through Facebook, demanding a US$ 6,000 ransom to release her only child. Tadesse said in an interview with The Associated Press in the capital, Addis Ababa, that she sold her car and all her jewelry to raise the cash and deposited the money in an Ethiopian bank account. But the kidnappers demanded more. She sold all her belongings; they still wanted more. Not knowing what else to do, she went to the police, armed with the local bank account number that the kidnappers had been using. Meanwhile, she was on Facebook, trying to get news of her daughter. Eventually, a post from a survivor confirmed that Tadesse's daughter had been killed. To date, no arrests have been made. Driven by desperation Although Ethiopia has been relatively stable since the war in the country's Tigray region ended in 2022, youth unemployment is high and there are still pockets of unrest. 'Many young people no longer see a future for themselves within a nation that does not prioritize their needs,' explained Yared Hailemariam, an Ethiopian human rights advocate based in Addis Ababa. 'The cause of this migration is lack of economic opportunities and growing conflicts. Young people are faced with a choice of either taking up arms to fight in endless conflicts, or providing for their families.' The war in Tigray was the reason why Nigus Yosef never finished school. When the conflict started in 2020, he was in 7th Grade, and he dropped out to join the Tigray armed forces. When the ceasefire was signed in 2022, he came back home, but couldn't find a job. After three years, he was desperate. Residents in the region say that traffickers seize on that desperation, and that their networks extend even into remote areas and rural villages. Eden Shumiye was just 13 when she left Adi Qeyih with Yosef and his friends. Her parents say that she was preyed on by people smugglers during the town's public market day, and that they convinced her to leave with the group. Her parents heard nothing from her until one of the other migrants called them when they reached Wuha Limat, near the Ethiopia-Djibouti border. The news left them sick with worry. After the boat capsized, a relative of one of the survivors managed to send a voice message to them from Saudi Arabia via the messaging app Imo, confirming that Eden's dead body had been recovered. Of the six young people who left Adi Qeyih, only two survived. 'Her mother is heartbroken,' Eden's father, Shumiye Hadush, told The Associated Press. 'The pain is truly overwhelming.' Ethiopia issues a warning In response to the recent tragedy, the Ethiopian government issued a statement warning citizens 'not to take the illegal route,' and to 'avoid the services of traffickers at all cost,' while urging people to 'pursue legal avenues for securing opportunities.' But Girmachew Adugna, a migration scholar specializing in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, points out that legal migration channels are slow and time-consuming. 'Passports are hard to obtain due to rising costs,' he says. 'Young people often have little or no access to legal migration pathways, which leads them to migrate through irregular means.' More than 1.1 million Ethiopians were classified as migrants who left their home country and were living abroad in 2024, up from about 200,000 recorded in 2010, according to United Nations figures. In spite of Yemen's civil war, the number of migrants arriving there has tripled from 27,000 in 2021 to 90,000 last year, the U.N. International Organization for Migration, or IOM, said last month. To reach Yemen, migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden. The IOM said at least 1,860 people have died or disappeared along the route, including 480 who drowned. 'Our youth are dying because of this dangerous migration,' says Eden Shumiye's father Hadush. 'They fall victim to the cruelty of traffickers. When will this tragedy come to an end?' ___ Associated Press writer Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report. ___ For more on Africa and development: The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Terrifying moment illegal migrant makes rogue U-turn in semi-truck before crashing into minivan and killing three people
Terrifying footage has emerged of the moment an illegal migrant driving a huge semi-truck caused a tragic crash which left three people dead. Harjinder Singh was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide for the horrific crash in Florida last Tuesday. Video from inside his enormous semi-truck shows the moment he casually began performing a U-turn on a highway, failing to consider other cars on the road traveling at speed. As he took up the entire highway, a minivan crashed directly into the side of the truck, unable to break quick enough to prevent the tragedy. Two passengers were killed on impact, while the driver was rushed to hospital and later declared dead. The area in which Singh was attempting to perform the U-turn was an 'official use only' pass. Singh is understood to have arrived in the United States illegally in 2018 after crossing the Mexican border. He obtained a commercial driver's license in California. Another one of @charliekirk11 's H-visa immigrants just killed three people by making an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway. He possessed a valid CDL and, according to Charlie, is just as American as you. — Tom Hennessy (@Tomhennessey69) August 17, 2025 'Three people lost their lives as a result of his recklessness, and countless friends and family members will experience the pain of their loss forever,' Dave Kerner from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said. 'Harjinder Singh is in custody on state vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations. 'He will no longer be able to damage and destroy the lives of Floridians and visitors.' In the video, Singh remained calm as it became apparent the minivan had been completely demolished, with debris strewn across the highway. Video from inside his enormous semi-truck shows the moment he casually began performing a U-turn on a highway, failing to consider other cars on the road traveling at speed Emergency services crews worked to free the mangled car from underneath the truck. Singh is currently being held on an ICE detainer.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Influencers rake in the cash after being deported from Trump's America and sharing their misery online
A trio of Mexican citizens, all of whom were forced to leave the United States, have become social media sensations by documenting their lives after deportation. Through the viral success of their videos on TikTok, Annie Garcia, Francisco Hernández-Corona, and Olga Mijangos are now earning a living through the app's Creator Rewards Program. The three regularly meet to create content together, blending personal stories with candid portrayals of the difficulties they face. Annie Garcia Garcia, 35, was deported from the U.S. in 2017. She arrived in Mexico with just $40, a criminal record for financial crimes committed in her 20s, and the trauma of being separated from her five children. She has since rebuilt her life in Puerto Vallarta, where she posts content under hashtags like #LifeAfterDeportation to more than 574,000 followers. Her videos mix lifestyle clips - such as boat rides on the Pacific - with candid accounts of detention and survival. She tells her audience that deportation gave her a second chance: 'Your criminal record doesn't follow you here… You can pursue higher education. Any debts you had in the U.S. do not follow you here.' Garcia has also spoken openly about her turbulent childhood: 'I was taken from my mother at the age of 12 because I had behavioral issues. I was separated from my family, and I grew up with other juveniles with behavior (problems),' she told USA Today. While she says deportation has given her a clean slate, the trauma remains: 'It's very, very triggering to me to see what's going on up there. It's a bittersweet feeling. I feel safe. I feel relief. We're here. It doesn't affect us any more. But it feels heartbreaking to see other families living through it.' She has explained her motivation for speaking out: 'When I first started sharing my story my idea was, 'Maybe if I talk about this, things will change.' … This is what is going to change things one day: us putting our stories out there.' Her platform has grown large enough to provide part of her income. She now earns through TikTok's monetization program, while also conducting research on reintegration for an American university and pursuing a law degree in Mexico. Francisco Hernández-Corona Hernández-Corona, a clinical psychologist in his early 30s, graduated from Harvard University in 2013 after a childhood marked by trauma. He testified against his abusive father in court, lost his mother to medical negligence while in high school, and was later adopted by a teacher. At age 12, he crossed the desert on foot to enter the U.S. illegally with his family. He later received temporary protection under DACA, which allowed him to study and work legally. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen, his immigration case stalled for more than a decade. Because of his illegal entry as a minor, he was permanently barred from adjusting his status inside the U.S. In 2025, fearing detention during Donald Trump's deportation campaign, Hernández-Corona chose to self-deport with his husband. He moved to Puerto Vallarta and began posting on TikTok under the handle @ciscoinmx, where he now has 31,400 followers. Most of his videos draw 4,000–20,000 views, but one three-part series about leaving the U.S. went viral with 2.5 million views. That series alone earned him thousands of dollars through the Creator Rewards Program. In his posts, he stresses the emotional cost of starting over: 'Self-deporting isn't always freedom and joy and new adventures. Sometimes it's pain and nostalgia and anger and sadness. Sometimes you just miss the home that was.' He also reflects on his conflicted identity: 'I'm very proud to be Mexican, and I'm learning to love a country I didn't get to grow up in, but I shouldn't have had to leave the home I knew to find peace and freedom. This isn't a blessing. It's resilience.' Olga Mijangos Mijangos, 33, was deported from Las Vegas on December 24, 2024, after being charged with a DUI. She returned to the small town in Oaxaca she had left at age five. There, she began sharing clips of rural life - goats in the streets, rodeos, and traditional food preparation - while working her first job in Mexico harvesting cucumbers for 300 pesos a day (about $15). 'I clearly understand why my mother decided to take us when we were little. Life in the pueblo is not easy,' she told followers in a video of her harvesting cucumbers. 'There is hard-living. There is poverty.' She has also described the judgment she faced on her return: 'Did I feel a lot of judgment? Absolutely. Even though it's my roots, I basically came from a different world. I have tattoos. I lived my life a certain way that they don't. I could feel people talking.' Her videos quickly gained traction. A post about sending her U.S.-born son to school in Mexico went viral with 14 million views and 2 million likes. The success led TikTok to invite her into its Creator Rewards Program, where she now earns from her content.
