Christmas Day quickly took a dark turn for a group of roofers in Wichita Falls when a gun-wielding coworker who had been drinking for hours shot one of them to death just after midnight and then tried to shoot the boss, according to allegations in court records.
A man suspected of the early Christmas morning murder was being held Friday in the Wichita County Jail on $1.5 million in bonds, court and jail records show.
Heber Jovany Zelaya Reyez, 37, is accused of killing a coworker in the 2200 block of Yale, as well as pointing a gun at another man, who heard clicking when the gun, apparently out of ammunition, failed to fire, court records show.
A witness described Zelaya Reyez drinking beer since 7 a.m. Christmas Eve, pointing a gun at a man’s face as a joke, shooting up a bucket and saying something like, “Could you imagine if I did that to a person from the waist up?” in the events leading up to the homicide, according to allegations in police affidavits.
Zelaya Reyez is charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, court and jail records show. He was also being held without bond on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.
In case of conviction, murder is punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison and aggravated assault by two to 20 years in prison. Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The name of the homicide victim was not available from police Thursday.
The victim had not been positively identified, and efforts were underway to notify his relatives, who are believed to live out of the country, Sgt. Jerad Miller said in a media release on Christmas Day. So it might take some time to notify next of kin. The investigation is ongoing.
Court affidavits detailed the allegations against Zelaya Reyez.
Wichita Falls police were dispatched about 12:17 am. on Christmas to the 2200 block of Yale Avenue to investigate a report of gunshots, according to affidavits.
Officers found a man dead on the front porch of a home there, and they were flagged down by the 911 caller, who told them Zelaya Reyez, the suspect, was in a truck in the front yard of a nearby house, according to allegations in affidavits.
Detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit responded to the scene and later spoke with the caller, who is a woman, and a man who told them he owns a local roofing company.
The company owner and the woman live at a home down the street from the scene of the homicide. The man told detectives several of his employees live at the other home where the man was found dead.
The business owner told police the woman woke him up and told him Zelaya Reyez was at their front door with a gun, according to allegations in the affidavits. He told her to ignore him and not let him in because he had been drinking.
The woman told detectives she reviewed video from the front door camera and saw Zelaya Reyez with a gun in his pocket, according to allegations.
The woman ignored him, but one of the employees down the street called her at 12:11 a.m. to say he had just heard arguing and then several gunshots at the workers’ house, and Zelaya Reyez had a gun, according to allegations.
The business owner told detectives he left his house to walk to the other home, and on the way, Zelaya Reyez confronted him, according to allegations. The business owner heard clicking as the suspect pulled the trigger with the gun pointed at him. He believed it was out of ammunition.
The woman told police she stayed on her porch and could only see the bodies of the two men in the darkness, but she heard the business owner trying to talk to Zelaya Reyez, who pointed a gun at the other man, according to allegations.
She heard him pull the trigger, and then the business owner walked to her and said, “This (expletive) just tried shooting me,” according to allegations.
The business owner told detectives he got in his pickup to find Zelaya Reyez, last seen walking south toward 23rd Street — because he wanted to pick him up while the gun was still out of ammunition, according to allegations. He got the suspect in his truck and drove back to his own home.
The business owner told police that when he got back home, Zelaya Reyez dropped the gun on the ground while getting out of the back seat of the truck, according to allegations. The business owner picked it up and put it inside his own home.
The woman told investigators the business owner pulled out a gun, threw it on the couch and said, “I just took this gun away from him.”
Police searched the business owner and the woman’s home with consent, finding a black Haskell JS .45-caliber pistol, according to allegations. Both were empty of ammunition.
Zelaya Reyez was detained in the back of a patrol unit, and ID technicians who took his clothing to preserve evidence found Hornady .45-calber Automatic Colt Pistol ammunition in his pants pocket, a match to the brand of spent cartridge cases near the victim at the workers’ house, according to allegations.
Back at the station, a worker living at the home with his brother and the victim and Zelaya Reyez told detectives that about 6:30 p.m. after work Christmas Eve, he and his brother knocked on the door since it was locked. Zelaya Reyez allegedly pointed a gun at his brother’s face and then joked that he knew it was them.
The worker told police that suspect and the victim were drinking together, and before they left for dinner, Zelaya Reyez grabbed a handful of ammunition and shot a white bucket outside five times, according to allegations. Then he speculated about doing that “to a person from the waist up.”
The employee told police he heard gunshots later and walked outside to see his coworker dead on the porch, according to allegations.
Detectives got a search warrant for the workers’ home and found 15 spent cartridge casings and a live one, all matching the .45-caliber ACP and Hornady brand, according to allegations.
On 12-25-25 at approx. 0017 hours Officers were sent to a disturbance at 2221 Yale. Upon arrival a male individual was found deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. The suspect was located in the area and taken into custody. The suspect will be charged with Murder and Agg. Assault.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Murder turns Christmas Day dark for coworkers in Wichita Falls
Reporting by Trish Choate, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
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