According to investigators, 31-year-old Rodrigo Rodriguez Carranza and his cousin were sitting in a car in the parking lot of their apartment building on Northpoint Drive near Greenspoint when two suspects tried to rob them.
Houston police said the suspect on the driver's side of the vehicle started shooting without warning.
"I heard a single gunshot and I looked out my window," said a neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous.
The neighbor added that when she peered out of her window, she could only see what appeared to be frantic witnesses.
"Like they were distressed or worried about what was going on back there, and they got back in their car," she said.
Carranza was hit and died at Ben Taub General Hospital. The other cousin survived, uninjured.
"They did hand over the wallet, but I guess, I don't know. I don't know why they still shot the guy," another neighbor said.
News of the shooting was shocking for that neighbor, who remembers seeing the two cousins together a few days ago.
"I've seen them coming from work at the same time. I mean, they work really hard. Hard-working people. You know, really quiet," he said. "It's really sad, you know?"
Police said the suspects escaped on foot. They are described only as two black men in their mid- to late-20s.
Anyone with information is urged to call police or Crime Stoppers.
