April 7, 2023 - Charges have been filed against two suspects arrested in the fatal shooting of a man at 7550 Long Point Road about 6:45 p.m. on March 28.

The suspects - Andres Lara, 19, and Daniel Medrano, 20 - are charged with capital murder in the 230th and 182nd State District Courts respectively. Booking photos of both suspects are attached to this news release.

The victim is identified as Joel Villarreal, 43.

HPD Homicide Division Detectives S. Chettry, H. Martinez and K. Stringer reported:

HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting in a strip center parking lot at the above address and found Mr. Villarreal unresponsive and lying on the ground. He had sustained a gunshot wound. Houston Fire Department paramedics transported Villarreal to an area hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.

A preliminary investigation indicated an unknown suspect(s) was involved in an armed robbery in the same strip center and Villarreal may have attempted to stop the suspect(s) from fleeing.

Further investigation identified a person of interest wanted for questioning and a surveillance photo was released to the public on Monday (April 3). The person of interest was later identified as Andres Lara.

A subsequent investigation identified Lara and Medrano as the suspects in this case. Both were arrested on Thursday (April 6) and subsequently charged for their roles in the incident.