On September 4, 2024, 37-year-old Maria Flores was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds at her apartment complex on Concourse Drive near Beltway 8 in Houston, Texas. Houston Police officers and Fire Department paramedics responded around 11:40 p.m.; paramedics pronounced her deceased at the scene. Surveillance footage from the complex showed Flores walking with a man shortly before the shooting, and police released images identifying that man as a person of interest described as a Hispanic male.

Flores’ family, especially her sister Vanessa, said they are grieving and urged the individual seen with Maria to come forward. Authorities later identified a suspect as 30-year-old Daniel Vargas Cartagena; on November 21, 2024 members of the Texas Department of Public Safety arrested Cartagena in Karnes County and charged him with capital murder in the 337th State District Court. The family described Maria as bubbly and someone who loved to laugh and had been excited about starting a new job.

Does anyone who lived near Concourse Drive or Beltway 8 in early September 2024 recognize the man seen with Maria or have other information that could help the case?