$200K bond set for teen accused of killing stepfather of girl he was stalking in southeast Houston
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Harris County judge set a bond for the teen accused of murdering a girl's stepfather after investigators say he was stalking her for rejecting him.
His first court appearance was scheduled for Saturday. 17-year-old Cristian Martinez waived his right to appear in person, but his attorney was there to represent him. The amount was set at $200,000. While he's behind bars, the victim's family, as you can imagine, is simply distraught and shaken up in the wake of this tragedy.
Judith Molina is now mourning the loss of her husband, Osvaldo Casas, who investigators say was shot to death near his home here on Loper Street in southeast Houston back on Aug. 10.
SEE ALSO: Teen charged with murder after shooting stalking victim's stepfather in SE Houston, records state
"Unfortunately, my husband died cause of them. They killed him," Molina said.
Molina was pregnant at the time and tried to save her husband.
"He was so excited for the birth of our baby boy. He was born 13 days later. They killed him that night. He didn't get to meet him," Molina said.
Investigators believe the person responsible for his death is Martinez. According to court documents, he was briefly seeing Casas' stepdaughter before she rejected him. From there, ABC13 was told that he stalked her.
"The daughter stopped seeing the defendant after the defendant stopped, assaulted, and unlawfully restrained her. The defendant repeatedly called the daughter until she blocked the defendant's phone number," a Harris County judge said.
The family also showed ABC13 a call log of dozens of anonymous calls made. Court records also show he was making threats.
"The defendant messaged friends, posted on social media about getting payback against the daughter, and left a voicemail saying he would shoot up the daughter's crib," the judge said.
On the morning of Casas' death, police say he went outside to check on a suspicious vehicle. His family believes he was confronting possible vandals. Now they believe one of them was Martinez, who shot and killed the father of three, leaving a family looking for justice.
"They took the chance of him dancing with his daughter on her 15th, the chance to meet the love of his life, his firstborn boy. I'm like, how, why," Karla Morales, sister of Casas, said.
