Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Man turns in his son in killings

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Thursday, July 20, 2000

Man turns in his son in killings
Abel Vela, 19, arrested in Reynosa St. shooting
By Kathryn A. Wolfe
Caller-Times

Vela

When police went to 19-year-old Abel Vela's home in rural Nueces County on Tuesday night to arrest him on suspicion of capital murder in the deaths of two Corpus Christi teens, he wasn't home.
   But his father promised police that when his son returned, he would take Vela to the police department to turn himself in.
   "I believe the father was acquainted with one of the detectives, and he had a good rapport with him," said Cmdr. U. B. Alvarado.
   His father lived up to his word, and at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Vela was arrested on suspicion of killing Robert Lopez and Alma Bazan. He was booked into the Nueces County jail on a $250,000 bond.

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Police displayed guns confiscated after the killing of two teens last week on Reynosa Street. Police say Abel Vela fired on the teens with an SKS assault rifle. Two more suspects, Jose Dueñes III and Jose Ramirez, are still at large.

   "His dad was told that we had a warrant for his son's arrest," said Police Chief Pete Alvarez. "His dad was very cooperative."
   The arrest warrant was possibly due to information provided by the community as well as a complaint and affidavit filed by a friend of Adrian Rios, who was shot and killed July 4 as he drove down South Padre Island Drive. Police have said Bazan and Robert Lopez's deaths could be in retaliation for that shooting, which they believe to be gang-related.
   Rios' friend's name has not been released because of the ongoing investigation.

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

District Attorney Carlos Valdez (right) holds up an SKS assault rifle used in the Reynosa Street shooting and asked why anyone should own such a weapon. He said the weapons used in the shootings last week would be destroyed once the investigation was over. Police arrested one teen Wednesday in the shootings.

   "Maybe it was a revenge thing for the Rios homicide," Alvarado said. "There's some strong indicators of that."
   The statement from Rios' friend, himself a gang member, names Adrian Rios and Robert Lopez as gang members.
   According to the affidavit, Rios' friend said Vela and one of his cousins were two of the gunmen who ambushed Bazan and Robert Lopez. The two died when nearly 30 rounds of semi-automatic weapon fire ripped through their Mercury Cougar at 11:30 p.m. July 12 in the intersection of Reynosa and Belton streets.

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Police displayed guns confiscated after the killing of two teens last week on Reynosa Street. Police say Abel Vela fired on the teens with an SKS assault rifle. Two more suspects, Jose Dueñes III and Jose Ramirez, are still at large.

   The affidavit states that Vela was shooting an SKS assault rifle, which police recovered a block away.
   Rios' friend also stated in the affidavit that Vela admitted to him that he was the shooter.
   Lopez leaves hospital
   Guadalupe P. Lopez, who is not related to Robert Lopez, drove onto Reynosa Street shortly after Robert Lopez was shot. Guadalupe Lopez was fired upon from both sides of the street, according to police.
   Emerging from the crossfire with head, neck and shoulder wounds, Lopez came to a stop at Tasco Street and was hospitalized after police arrived at the scene.
   Guadalupe Lopez has since been released from the hospital.
   Two suspects still at large

Dueñes

   Police obtained three arrest warrants in connection with the shootings by linking fingerprints at the scene and ballistic test results with Jose Ramirez, 20, and Jose Dueñes III, 19. Both have been charged with attempted capital murder in the shooting of Guadalupe Lopez and are still at large.
   The third warrant was issued for Vela, but the complaint was sealed by Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Duncan Neblett to protect the identity of an informant named in the document.
   It is possible that more arrest warrants may be issued, District Attorney Carlos Valdezsaid.

Ramirez

   "The police are on top of it," Valdez said. "We will get them, it's just a matter of time."
   Valdez said it is still too early to know whether his office will pursue the death penalty, but has said in the past that he offers no plea bargains for those involved in gang-related crimes.
   At a press conference held at the Corpus Christi Police Department Tuesday, Alvarez, Alvarado, Valdez and several police investigators gathered around a table with six weapons that were confiscated after the July 12 shooting.
   Valdez said once the investigation is over, they will destroy the weapons, including four rifles - the SKS, a semi-automatic weapon and two bolt-action hunting rifles - and two handguns, a .45-caliber and a and a .38-caliber.
   "There's no place in Corpus Christi for something like this," Valdez said, holding up the SKS, which police believe was the weapon that killed Bazan and Robert Lopez.
   Shootings remain unrelated
   So far, there's nothing to indicate that Vela knew Dueñes or Ramirez, Alvarez said, and the two shootings remain unrelated.
   Alvarez said he didn't think there would be many more retaliatory crimes because of how many police resources are being devoted to the case.
   "We have focused in on the problem itself, the main players," Alvarez said. "I think that the possibility for retaliation at this time is very low because of that."
   Arrest hit close to home
   Back at Vela's home, neighbors expressed surprise and disbelief.
   Joe De Leon, who lives across the street, said he was shocked when police pulled up Tuesday.
   And neighbor Miki Giannamore, whose children go to school with Vela's younger siblings, said the arrest hit unexpectedly close to home.
   "You kind of don't think it's going to be the kids down the street shooting at each other," she said.
   Giannamore said she kept her 13-year-old daughter at home all day out of fear.
   "I'm kind of worried, because you just don't know," she said. "That's one of the reasons we moved to the country, to get away from this."


Staff writer Kathryn Wolfe can be reached at 886-3615 or by e-mail at wolfek@caller.com

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