HOUSTON — An investigation is underway after a 37-year-old father was shot and killed in his southeast Houston neighborhood early Saturday morning, according to police. The Houston Police Department said the man's pregnant wife attempted to give him CPR, but he did not survive.
Family identified the victim as Osvaldo Casas. This happened around 12:30 a.m. on Loper Street, which is in a neighborhood off Allen Genoa Road near Highway 225.
From a young age, Osvaldo Casas started working to help his family.
"I’m a single mother, he started working when he was 14 in AC to help me," said Blanca Aguirre, Osvaldo's mom, who has eight children.
She said she couldn't help herself but to clean her son's body when she was at the scene.
"I know he’s here. I told this blood, this thing like this is not going to stay...we're going to find out who did it," Aguirre said.
The family had reported that one of their cars had been vandalized Thursday night and said they had seen a black vehicle in the area. The night of the shooting, police said a neighbor had called the man to say they had seen a black truck or SUV slowly driving through the neighborhood. That's when the man left his home to confront the driver.
"She try to give him CPR, and he died in her hands," Aguirre said.
HPD said the man left the house by himself and moments later, the family and neighbors heard gunshots. Surveillance video shows Casas running down the street, and running back to his home after the gunshots were fired.
When Casas' family went outside, they saw the man turning the corner covered in blood before he collapsed. Despite attempting life-saving efforts, he was pronounced dead.
"He works, goes home to his family, and repeats. That shouldn’t have happened to him," Casas' sister Brandy Momon told KHOU 11 News.
She said they are upset with the gun violence in the state and how it impacted their family.
Police are asking residents in the area to check their security cameras to see if they caught anything.
The family has set up a GoFundMe for Casas' funeral expenses.
Watch the update police gave at the scene: