Luis Manuel Casillas: Houston man, 29, shot dead 2 days before Christmas over $500 repair bill
HOUSTON, TEXAS: 19-year-old car mechanic Luis Manuel Casillas was found shot to death in north Houston on December 23, and his family is now trying to find the killer. Casillas was found wounded by a gunshot in a business parking lot on the North Freeway near West Little York Road, according to Houston police.
Casillas' family is distraught, claiming he was killed as a result of a dispute over a $500 charge to repair a truck for a customer. “He was a father, a son, a brother, an uncle,” Sandy Casillas, Luis’ sister, said “He didn’t deserve this." The event is being investigated by the police, and investigators are hoping to uncover security footage of the gunshot.
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Witnesses claimed to have seen Casillas argue and make an attempt to flee before being shot while pleading for his life, ABC 13 reports. "My brother started running," his sister Sandy Casillas said she learned from witnesses. "He ran through all the side businesses he could run through. They did catch up to him, and they shot him in the head. (Point) blank. He begged them, 'I have a family, just take whatever you want.' And they said 'no.'"
On Christmas, his children, aged 2 and 3, opened presents while they were still too little to properly comprehend what had happened to their father. “Santa showed up but daddy didn’t,” Sandy Casillas said. “We don’t have a holiday no more – we don’t know what the holidays are no more.” Luis also leaves behind his wife and the mother of his children.
"You don't do that to any human beings," Sandy Casillas said. "You don't do that to animals. How do you do that to my brother? What they did is not fair and if you're the mother of those six individuals, at least be a good enough mother to turn your child in."
The 29-year-old was shot in the head outside the store where he worked. According to Sandy, there are six suspects, all of whom she thinks are young men. The suspects' or their vehicles' official descriptions have not been made public by Houston police.
Two witnesses claimed that after hearing a disturbance and a single gunshot, they attended to the mortally injured Casillas. Sandy Casillas has faith that the suspects will be apprehended soon. “I’ll be damned if I let this case go cold. My brother will get his justice,” Sandy Casillas said.
Jose Casillas, the brother of Luis Casillas, claimed that he had spoken to him the day before the altercation regarding this customer and had even emailed him screenshots of their chat. "After that, I just received a call that my brother has been shot," his brother said with tears in his eyes in the parking lot of the funeral home. "I didn't believe it at first. It’s been three of the longest days,” Jose Casillas said.