A man convicted of killing a mother of 11 during a home invasion in 2020 has been sentenced to life in prison.
Josue Lopez, 19, was convicted on Nov. 4, after a weeklong trial. It wasn’t long before he was given his life sentence.
The crime happened on Aug. 3, 2020. It was the first of two random home invasions from that day that several other people committed. Authorities said it was 1:45 a.m. when Lopez and three men kicked in the door of a home in the 1600 block of Alabama Street and started shooting.
The suspect went into the children’s room and then met the parents as they came downstairs. That’s when 40-year-old Margarita Villalon ran to set off the alarm but was shot in the back of her head by Lopez.
“This was a premeditated and planned attack on a family who should have been safe while they were asleep in their beds,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “This man pulled the trigger on a wife and mother in her own home, which merits a sentence of life in prison.”
Hours after the shooting, the suspects tried to kick down the door of another home, but the homeowner stood behind the door as the group tried to break in. The suspects then started shooting and injured the man in the leg, authorities said.
As a result of the investigation, four men were arrested in connection. The other suspects, Kain Lopez and Gregory Donnell, both pleaded guilty in exchange for sentences of 40 years in prison.
The case against Michael Sanchez is still pending.