BAYTOWN, Texas – A 17-year-old has been arrested in connection with the shooting two Baytown twin brothers, leaving one of them dead.
Baytown Police say Guillermo Tommy Mena was taken into custody in the 2600 block of Massey Tompkins at 2:55 a.m. Thursday.
According to the Baytown Police Department, it happened at 9 p.m. at the League of Women Voters Park located at Columbia and River Bend.
A preliminary investigation shows the twins met two acquaintances at the park for a transaction. During the meeting, one of the acquaintances, Mena displayed a handgun and began robbing the brothers.
That is when police said Mena shot Luis and Juan before fleeing on foot into a nearby neighborhood along with the second acquaintance.
Mena was subsequently identified by Juan in a photo lineup and he was located and taken into custody.
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The 18-year-old twins live less than a half mile away from the park.
Their mother heard the police helicopters Wednesday night, and soon got a call from one of her sons telling her that he was in the hospital and his twin brother was dead.
Days after the sacred milestone of watching her fraternal twins graduate from Sterling High School in Baytown, Sylvia Marisca is faced with the devastating reality that one of their futures is over.
Marisca says her son Luis Huerta jumped in front of his brother Juan to shield him after shots began ringing out at League of Women Voters Park.
She credits Luis for saving his twin's life. Juan's now on the mend at the hospital in stable condition with gunshot wounds to the shoulder and leg.
Luis died almost instantly after taking the brunt of the bullets.
Marisca says the two teen suspects stole $100 from her dead son. Money she says he earned while working at Toys R Us.
"Thank God it (gunshots) wasn't going in my house. That's what I thought because it could have,” Kay, a neighbor, said.
Neighbors in this quiet residential area say suspicious activity seems to happen at this park regularly during the summer months.
“Every summer I have to call police at least once a week. They know me by my last name,” Kays said. "The city needs to put more lights in that park. It's ridiculous not next year, not nine months from now.”
Marisca says in Spanish, “God will give justice because I had two sons and they took one away from me.”
The mother now left to deal with funeral arrangements says she is certain on one thing. She believes God will take care of her son's killer.