Again, as I commented on another article, "our" FAMILIES are at the mercy of ILLEGALS and their Anchor Babies being murdered, raped, or robbed. But NOT to worry the Chamber of Commerce will get their "cheap labor" increasing "their privatized" PROFITS, thanks to Bush and the Congressional Leadership!!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5615086.html

March 12, 2008, 11:41PM
Widow mourns loss of husband, son over $400


By ROSANNA RUIZ
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

RESOURCES
For some, $400 may be an insignificant amount, but for Israel Guevara, a maintenance worker who struggled to make ends meet, the money meant survival for his family.

So when Guevara spotted a former tenant who bailed on a final rent payment two years ago, he just couldn't let the debt go.

Police said Guevara's fight for the money ended in gunfire Saturday on a south Houston street when the renter shot and killed the man and his son.

As the family today prepares to bury Guevara, 57, and his only son, Israel Alvarado, 17, authorities have yet to locate Librado Medina Jimenez, the former tenant.

The Guevara family said the rent money dispute had been roiling since Jimenez, 34, was evicted from the small house behind the Guevara family home. No one, however, imagined it would end this way.

"He took my life away — my world is over," Juana Castillo, 60, said through tears as she prepared for a joint funeral for her husband and son. "I want to be with them."


May be headed to Mexico
Guevara was riding with Alvarado when the two saw Jimenez in his truck on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard about 4 p.m. on Saturday. There was a confrontation, and Jimenez pulled out a gun, police said.

When the gunfire stopped, Alvarado lay dead from a bullet to the back of the head. Guevara, who police say suffered three gunshot wounds, died later at Ben Taub General Hospital.

Jimenez, now charged with capital murder, has not been seen since the slayings.

Houston Police Sgt. E. Cisneros said the man may intend to escape to his native Mexico, but he may not have enough money yet.

Jimenez drives a black, Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck with a grim reaper sticker on the back window. The word "Chevy" is in gold across the tailgate.

Jimenez has a criminal record in Arizona that includes an 18-month prison sentence in 1995 for felony theft, records show.

An immigration hold also appears on his record, but it's unclear whether he was determined to be in the country legally or not. An immigration spokeswoman was unable to confirm the family's claim that he was undocumented.


Signs pointed to 'bad man'
Looking back, Castillo said, all the signs pointed to Jimenez being a dangerous man.

"He's a bad man without a heart," Castillo said. "I just ask God he gets caught and punished for what he did."

As a tenant, he behaved erratically and would often fire his gun into the air. When neighbors complained, Castillo pressed her husband to kick Jimenez off their property.

Her husband agreed, but Jimenez left without paying his last month's rent of $400.

Guevara had attempted to recover the money before. During one of those instances Jimenez cursed him and refused to pay.

It's unclear, however, if Jimenez ever threatened the family with violence. But on Saturday, Guevara and his son saw another opportunity to force Jimenez to make good on his debt.

Witnesses said Alvarado got out of his father's truck in the 6800 block of Martin Luther King and told Jimenez to pay up. As the teen returned to his family's truck, witnesses told police, Jimenez opened fire.

Neighbors who saw Guevara's truck surrounded by police cars notified his wife.

When she arrived, police officers would not let her see her son, his body covered by a sheet. He was already dead, they told her.


Father-son bond
Guevara and his son were known to neighbors as "Big Riley" and "Little Riley."

The two were more like friends than father and son, family said.

Guevara worked as a maintenance worker for a restaurant.

The son, a senior at Pasadena High School, was known to get into his share of scrapes. He was still a good kid, family and friends said.

The teen had planned to marry Christian Mosqueda, 17, after he graduated. Mosqueda and their 10-month-old son, Brian, moved in with the family the day before her fiance and his father were killed.

Castillo, who fainted earlier this week from the pain of seeing her husband and son in caskets, said there's one consolation: The two, who were so close in life, are now together in death.

rosanna.ruiz@chron.com