2 arrested amid Parker County investigation into bodies found at abandoned schoolhouse
A Whitt couple were in custody Tuesday after their names came up in the Parker County murder investigation of two men whose bodies were found near an abandoned schoolhouse, according to the sheriff.
But Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier said no one has been charged for the April 11 homicides and the investigation is continuing.
Detectives believe the two men — Daniel Gomez, 26, of Waco, and Efrain Mendoza, 35, of Austin — were shot to death during a drug deal gone wrong.
One of the shooting victims, Gomez, was wanted by unidentified Hispanic men from California and Mexico, authorities said. Those men contacted Gomez’s family, telling them that Gomez had stolen “17 bricks worth $1 million.”
Gomez had a friend, Diciembre Hernandez-Quesada, 26, of Waco, drive him to the Parker County abandoned schoolhouse on April 11 to obtain money to “make things right by reimbursing the person he stole from,” according to a Tuesday news release from the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
Hernandez-Quesada told Texas Rangers that he and Gomez were childhood friends who reunited just two weeks before he was killed.
Gomez contacted his friend on April 11, saying he needed a ride to Weatherford to pick up a bag of money that was owed to him by the property owner of the abandoned schoolhouse.
Hernandez-Quesada told authorities that when Gomez got into the car, he removed a gun from his waistband and placed it on the console.
Hernandez-Quesada said he began to get nervous when they passed Weatherford and drove into a rural area of Parker County, but Gomez told him not to worry because they were meeting someone he trusted, according to the news release.
Once they arrived, Gomez ordered his friend to stay in the car, placed the handgun in his waistband, got out of the car and walked inside of the school.
Gomez’s friend heard arguing, a scuffle and then gunshots. The friend drove away from the scene and called Gomez’s family to tell them what had happened.
Hernandez-Quesada returned to Waco, and he didn’t call 911 until hours after the shooting, authorities said. He was later arrested in Bellmead and faces a charge of failure to report a felony serious bodily injury or death.
Authorities later determined Hernandez-Quesada was the one who called authorities and reported an unknown person was in danger in Parker County.
Through the investigation, a search warrant was executed Monday morning at a home in Whitt across the street from where the fatal shootings occurred.
That home was where Jerome Thomas Watkins and Samorrowia Jeannette Alexander lived, and authorities determined that Watkins was in the process of purchasing the abandoned schoolhouse.
During the search of the Whitt home, authorities discovered 11 dogs who were in poor health and they were surrendered to the Weatherford/Parker County Animal Shelter.
Investigators also seized electronic devices, firearms, money and a black 2019 Tiger flatbed trailer valued at $4,000 which was reported stolen out of Forest Hill.
In addition, authorities confiscated four large baggies containing 390 grams of oxycodone pills, and 500 grams of pills containing suspected fentanyl in a kitchen drawer and master bedroom with a suspected narcotics ledger.
Watkins was arrested on drug and theft charges, while Alexander was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant out of Weatherford.
Watkins had told authorities he wasn’t home at the time of the April 11 shooting, but authorities obtained his cell phone records which indicated his cell phone was near his home that night.
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 2:58 PM.
