Couple ambushed by armed robbers, husband shot and killed

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- On Christmas Day, 55-year-old Jorge Gallegos-Lucio was surrounded by his family opening gifts. He saved his money as a painter to spoil his wife. Five days later, he was killed.

Lucio's stepdaughter Erika Rodriguez describes seeing her mother Monday night, "She was hysterical. Crying, screaming. I asked her where was Jorge?"

Rodriguez looked down Turner Street and saw her stepfather and she says, "I looked towards the car and he was gone."

The couple was driving home from dinner with family in the Aldine area Monday night around 10pm. Police say the couple stopped at a stop sign. Then, a car blocked them in. They also say, a man jumped out of the car with a gun, came around to the driver's side window and demanded money.

Gallegos-Lucio gave him what he had in his pockets -- cash. They stole his cell phone from his jacket. But, that wasn't enough. He was shot several times.

Stepdaughter Xiomara Maldonado also told Eyewitness News, "That's cruel. That's not a way to take a person's life, especially for something to simple over some change."

The family says the men didn't take anything from Lucio's wife. The couple was married for just seven years. His stepchildren grew close to him quickly. Lucio's wife was not hurt. But, she can't bring herself to tell her grandchildren what happened.

The family says their father did not have any enemies or issues with anyone. They think this was a random robbery. Police say they are looking for two Hispanic men, 20 to 30 years old. One man wore a blue bandanna over his face. They were driving a silver four-door car.