Family of mechanic killed in shooting spree asks HPD for clarity
Thursday, more details emerged about the mechanic and the life he leaves behind.
More than two dozen family members and friends of a mechanic shot and killed at his southwest Houston shop last week gathered at Houston Police headquarters to demand answers and accountability.
Thursday, more details emerged about the mechanic and the life he leaves behind.
The family’s main questions are how the killer, a convicted felon with a lengthy rap sheet, obtained a gun and why Houston Police have not contacted them about the investigation.
“He loved his family deeply, and we loved him just as much, and now he’s gone,” said Yara Vasquez, Hector Vasquez’s wife.
The pain felt by 35-year-old Hector Vasquez’s family was on full display.
Vasquez said, “He was a husband, a son, a brother, an uncle, and a friend. Kind, funny, loyal, someone who lit up every room he walked into.”
Vasquez said the grief of losing her partner of seven years to gun violence is coupled with frustration.
“We’re here today not just in grief, but in outrage,” she said.
On Oct. 8, Hector Vasquez became the third person killed in a shooting spree that spanned miles before the suspected gunman, William Delawrence Lewis, took his own life. Lewis was out on bond for assault at the time. Lewis is believed to have first shot and killed Sherri Perrault, who he was in a relationship with in Sugar Land, before driving to the southwest side.
Vasquez was an innocent bystander working a normal day at his mechanic shop on Fondren and South Main. He may have witnessed Lewis shooting another mechanic across the street before he was also shot and killed.
The exact motive behind the shootings is unknown, but the Vasquez family and their lawyer say Lewis, a convicted felon, should not have been able to do what police say he did.
“One of the things they’d like to know is, you know, where they got the gun, where, you want to know the movements,” lawyer Randall Kallinen said.
“Why wasn’t this man taken off the streets? Why wasn’t Houston alerted? Why wasn’t the community warned or protected? There must be accountability because this was preventable.” Vasquez said.
Houston police say they are investigating.
