Family identifies great-grandma as 1 of 2 people killed inside W. Houston apartment leasing office

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Saturday, September 5, 2026 12:23AM
No arrests made after 2 killed inside apartment leasing office: HPD
Twenty-four hours after two people were fatally shot inside an apartment leasing office, Houston police say they still have no arrests and no clear motive.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Twenty-four hours after two people were fatally shot inside an apartment leasing office, Houston police say they still have no arrests and no clear motive.

The family of one victim, 67-year-old leasing agent Rosie Ybarra, is pleading for answers and justice.

Ybarra, a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and foster mother, worked at the Park at Woodlake Apartments in west Houston. Her relatives say she was dedicated to providing for the people she loved.

RELATED: 2 apartment complex employees found shot to death inside leasing office, HPD says

"What are we going to do without her?" her mother, Elia Ybarra, said through tears. The family agreed to sit down with ABC13 to draw more attention to their plight.

"My mom was independent. She was still working at 67, and she worked because she wanted to provide us, all of us, a good life, a good future, a good everything," her daughter, Krystal Martinez, said.

Police believe Ybarra and a 47-year-old manager were shot and killed shortly before the leasing office closed Thursday night. Martinez said the medical examiner's office told her her mother was shot in the head.

"If you shoot someone in the head, you don't give them a chance to fight. My mom is a fighter. If she would have gotten shot, anywhere else, I guarantee you my mother would have fought for us," she said.

Ybarra leaves behind her mother, adult children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a foster child. Her family says they will not rest until her killer is found and will remember her as fierce, loving, and full of personality.

"As a strong, outspoken, very kind, always in a happy mood, anybody who saw her, she was always smiling with that red lipstick, red hair," her granddaughter, Sabrina Salinas, said. "She was working to get money into her pocket for her family. She was the rock of the family, so it's very devastating for us that she's not here with us any longer."

Police were seen entering and leaving the complex Friday, but Houston Police said no arrests have been made. One resident told ABC13 he is still trying to download surveillance video that may help investigators.

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