SAN JACINTO COUNTY, Texas — A man identified by law enforcement as a friend of Francisco Oropeza will have to answer to a federal judge.
Originally, Domingo Castilla-Castillo was booked into the San Jacinto County Jail on a drug charge, but he was later charged with being an alien in possession of a firearm, a federal charge.
Castilla's role
San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said Castilla-Castillo also helped Oropeza get out of the neighborhood in which he's accused of killing five of his neighbors.
"The investigation, so far, indicates that he was assisting Mr. Oropeza in fleeing the neighborhood where the crime took place," Dillon said.
Federal authorities said they searched Castilla-Castillo's house and found three guns, one of which was an AR-style rifle. They said they also found a fake driver's license. Authorities said Castilla is a Mexican citizen.
"If we truly want to keep guns out of the wrong hands, one thing we’re going to have to consider is background checks on all gun sales," an ATF special agent said.
The other person charged in connection with the case is a woman who has been identified as Oropeza's wife, Divimara Nava. She's accused of giving Oropeza food and clothes and also arranged a ride to the house where he was eventually arrested. Officials also said she was communicating with investigators throughout the entire four-day manhunt.
Nava's role
Nava, 52, appeared in court on Wednesday. It was the 52-year-old's first appearance after being arrested and charged with hindering the apprehension of a fugitive. The third-degree felony carries a sentence of two to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
During an interview with the FBI after her arrest, Nava told them that her husband arrived at the house around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Nava said Oropeza took a shower and went to sleep. She said she went to get food for him in the morning and also delivered a message to his cousins asking for help getting him to Mexico. The family member said they wouldn't help.
A judge set Nava's bond at $250,000. During the appearance, Nava told the judge she was not a United States citizen and was a citizen of Mexico.
Mass shooting details
Oropeza, 38, is accused of going on a deadly shooting rampage late Friday night after his neighbors asked him to stop shooting his gun on his property so a child could sleep.
“He told us he was on his property, and he could do what he wanted,” neighbor Wilson Garcia said.
Garcia, who survived the shooting, said he could see Oropeza on his front porch but couldn’t tell what he was doing. About 20 minutes after Garcia walked back from Oropeza's house, Oropeza started running toward him with a loaded rifle.
Garcia’s wife, Sonia Guzmán, was at the front door and was the first to die.
There were 15 people in the house at the time. Several of them were friends who had been there to join Guzmán on a church retreat. Oropeza seemed intent on killing everyone, Garcia said.
Oropeza escaped the area after the shooting and went on the run for about four days before he was caught.
Several guns were found at his home. Authorities said Oropeza was known to shoot his rifle in the front yard and that they've had numerous calls to the area.
The victims
Officials identified the victims as the following:
- Daniel Enrique Lazo, 9
- Jonathan Cáceres, 18
- Diana Velásquez, 21
- Sonia Guzmán, 28
- Obdulia Molina, 31
Editor's note: There have been discrepancies in the spelling of the names and the ages of the victims. We are using names and ages supplied by the Honduran government on May 1. Previous reporting used spelling and ages supplied earlier in the investigation by the Houston office of the FBI.
According to investigators, four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene and 9-year-old Daniel died at an area hospital. Others were found covered in blood inside the home, but none of them were injured, according to authorities.
Oropeza is also accused of killing Cáceres and his girlfriend, Molina. According to sources, Molina leaves behind two children in the U.S. and two others in Honduras. Her family in Honduras said she was a fighter -- a woman with goals.
Oropeza also shot and killed 21-year-old Diana Velásquez, according to officials. She leaves behind her partner and their two kids.
The bodies of the victims will be flown back to Honduras to be buried.