It all happened at a duplex on Plantain near Deermoss in the Silver Mill subdivision in Katy just before 10pm Tuesday night.
There is a small memorial building outside the home where Lopez was killed. His friends tell Eyewitness News they're devastated and his family says they just want some answers.
"My son was taken from us way too early," said Lopez's mother, Cherie Duszynski. "My grandson had said that his dad wouldn't wake up."
It's been an emotional day for Duszynski and her family, huddled outside the house where deputies say a group of unknown people tied up her three grandchildren and murdered her son.
"Some animals came and had a plan and they executed it," said Duszynski. "The thought that we're never going to see him again is killing me right now."
Lopez's wife discovered the horrific scene at their home on Plaintain Drive when she arrived from work late Tuesday night. Investigators say the 31-year-old father was found in the kitchen covered in blood. The suspects left his 7-year-old son and 6-year-old niece bound in their bedroom. His 6-month-old baby was found safe in her crib.
"Five, six-year-old kids, to tie them up like that, it's unhuman," said his victim's uncle, Rick Lopez.
One neighbor told deputies she saw a couple of guys kicking in the family's door, then drive from the house in Lopez's black truck a short time later.
"The neighbor's little daughter was outside walking her dog and she saw two dudes kicking the guy's door and a couple of minutes later they burned off in his truck," said one neighbor.
The victim's close friend Omar Souheil told us Lopez had no enemies.
"That right there, that was a break-in. And this place here it's not uncommon to have break-ins," said Souheil.
For now, the victim's family is pleading with the public, hoping for answers that could lead to suspects.
"If you know of anybody that may talk about what they did, please don't keep it to yourself," said Duszynski. "We have to stop them. We have to get them before they do it to somebody else."
Deputies are now collecting evidence to try to track down the suspects while family members worry about the little ones who now have to live with what they saw.
"I was talking to his son earlier this morning after they released him from the police station," said Lopez. "He was playing his Gameboy and he was just kind of into that. He made a couple of comments about his dad and stuff but right now it is not affecting him just yet."
None of the children were hurt. Sheriff's deputies are speaking to the two older children to see what or who they may have seen.
Authorities have not confirmed any suspect's descriptions but believe they may have fled in the victim's black Chevy Tahoe with license plate 03S-HS6.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Harris County Sheriff's Office or Crime Stoppers.
