Noel Venero Lopez, 55, was shot and killed the evening of May 29, 2025, along the 11700 block of the Southwest Freeway service road near Wilcrest Drive in Houston. Officers first responded to a minor collision between a gray Dodge Charger and a black Toyota Prius. While officers were gathering information, witnesses reported a young man walking into traffic, a gunshot was heard, and a red Hyundai Elantra sped away.

The driver of that Hyundai was identified by authorities as Noel Venero Lopez. He was found wounded, taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, and later pronounced dead. Investigators say the same man then pointed a gun at a witness and fled by carjacking a gray Audi SQ5; that vehicle’s tracking led police to Corpus Christi, where a 20-year-old, Alexis Garcia, was detained and found armed with a handgun.

Alexis Garcia was initially booked on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft, and unlawful carrying of a weapon; police later upgraded the case and on July 9, 2025, charged Garcia with capital murder in connection with Lopez’s death. The sequence of events — crash, shooting, carjacking, flight and arrest — reportedly unfolded within hours. If anyone has information about Noel Venero Lopez or the incident, please share tips with the Houston authorities.