Houston police have arrested two suspects in connection with the July 2025 shooting death of 35-year-old Angel Chavira, who was killed outside his Sherwood Lane apartment during a late-night attack.
According to an HPD press release, Jose Cortez-Torres, 39, was taken into custody on Jan. 2 by HPD’s SWAT team and is now charged with murder in the 209th Criminal District Court. Bond for the murder charge was set at $500,000. Cortez-Torres shows a recent criminal history in Harris county that includes drug-related felony charges, as well as one count of super aggravated sexual assault of a 6-year-old child, one felony count of aggravated sexual assault of a child between the ages of 14 and 17, and one count of sexual assault of a child (14-17). Cortez-Torres is currently being held in the Harris County Jail.
Prior to Cortez-Torres’s arrest, police say 48-year-old Octavio Garcia Cruz was taken into custody on Oct. 8 by officers with HPD’s Gang Division Crime Reduction Unit and the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force. He is charged with murder in the 184th Criminal District Court. Cruz, who shows prior convictions for felony theft and aggravated assault with serious bodily injuries, is being held in the Harris County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Police said Chavira had been sitting outside his apartment at 4603 Sherwood Lane with friends around 10:50 p.m. on July 5, 2025, when two men approached. One of them fired multiple shots before both fled on foot. Friends transported Chavira to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators later identified Cruz as one of the suspects. Continued investigative work led officers to Cortez-Torres, who was arrested nearly six months after the shooting…