Victor Gonzalez was following robbery suspects while speaking with 911 dispatchers when he reported that he had been shot, authorities said.
HOUSTON, Texas — A 17-year-old has been charged with capital murder in the death of a 34-year-old father who authorities say was robbed at gunpoint during an online sale meetup and later fatally shot while following the suspects through north Harris County.
Anthony Castro was arrested Sept. 18 in connection with the Sept. 13 death of Victor Gonzalez, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said Gonzalez had arranged through Facebook Marketplace to meet someone in the Aldine area to sell property. Authorities allege that the meeting instead turned into an armed robbery. Castro’s charge is an allegation, and the criminal case has not been resolved.
Gonzalez called 911 at about 4:12 p.m. after the robbery, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators said the people involved fled in a vehicle and Gonzalez followed them while giving dispatchers information about their direction of travel. During the call, Gonzalez said he had been shot and then stopped responding, according to authorities and court records cited in local reporting.
Deputies found Gonzalez in the 600 block of John Albers Road, near Bauman Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The sequence described by investigators stretched from the alleged robbery to a vehicle pursuit as Gonzalez stayed on the phone with emergency dispatchers. Authorities have said more than one person fled after the robbery, but the reports reviewed through Wednesday did not identify another person who had been charged in Gonzalez’s death.
Court documents cited by ABC13 provide additional allegations about the shooting. Investigators said they interviewed a person who picked Castro up after the robbery. That person told authorities Castro got out of a vehicle and fired at Gonzalez’s vehicle, according to the documents. Investigators also said surveillance video recorded the sound of three gunshots during the confrontation. Those allegations have not yet been tested at trial.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced Castro’s arrest five days after the shooting. The sheriff said homicide detectives charged the teenager with capital murder for his alleged role in Victor Gonzalez’s death and that a violent-criminal apprehension team and partner agencies helped take him into custody. Castro was booked into the Harris County Jail. Court records cited by the Houston Chronicle on Sept. 20 listed him as being held without bail at that time.
Victor Gonzalez was a husband and father of two young children. His wife, Mayra Gonzalez, told ABC13 that her husband had a large circle of friends and was deeply loved by his family. “Everyone knew him. He had friends everywhere,” she said. “He was a great man.” She said the loss had been devastating for their children, who were close to their father.
Mayra Gonzalez also spoke publicly about the circumstances surrounding the meeting, saying she hoped the death would make others more cautious about transactions arranged with strangers online. Her comments came as investigators continued examining the events before and during the robbery and shooting. Authorities have not released all of the evidence collected in the case, and key details about the other people allegedly involved remain undisclosed.
The case began as what investigators described as a planned sale of personal property through an online marketplace. Authorities say it became an armed robbery before Gonzalez followed the fleeing vehicle. The allegations in the capital murder case will ultimately have to be proven in court, and no conviction has been entered against Castro.
As of Wednesday, Castro remained the publicly identified defendant in the case in the reliable reports reviewed. Authorities had not publicly announced another arrest connected to Gonzalez’s killing, and the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the robbery and shooting remained active.
Author note: Last updated September 23, 2026.