Drive-by shooting suspects intended to target victim’s neighbor in feud over girl: warrant
Three teenage suspects accused of a drive-by shooting that killed a North Richland Hills man intended to target his neighbor in a feud that started over a girl, court records state.
The Fort Worth teens — 17-year-old Alexander Ortega, 18-year-old Martin Mauricio Marquez-Diaz and 19-year-old Anthony Zapata — have been arrested and face murder charges in connection with the Nov. 27 shooting.
North Richland Hills police responded to the 7300 block of Stonybrooke Drive shortly after 11 p.m. A woman called 911 to report her husband had been shot in the back, according to Zapata’s arrest warrant affidavit. The victim, 52-year-old Brian Cason Pence, died a short time later at John Peter Smith Hospital.
Barbara Pence, the victim’s wife, told investigators she couldn’t understand why anyone would have targeted her husband or their home. According to the affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram, a neighbor suggested to her that the shooter may have targeted the wrong house.
Detectives contacted the neighbor, who told them her son “has been in some trouble,” the affidavit states. She wondered if the shooting was related to that.
When asked if he could think of anyone who would want to hurt him, the woman’s son said he’d gotten into an argument about two months ago with a guy named Alex. According to the affidavit, Alex had started messaging the son’s girlfriend. He told investigators that Alex wanted to fight him.
The son said Alex lived in Fort Worth, but he didn’t know his last name or what kind of vehicle he drove. The following day he reached out to police with information about where Alex worked and screenshots of a license plate connected to a silver Infiniti car.
Investigators were looking for a four-door silver Infiniti based on a description from a 911 caller and home surveillance video of the shooting. The screenshots showed to detectives appeared to match the suspect vehicle, the affidavit states.
The Infiniti was located in a Fort Worth parking lot. The registration was expired, so detectives asked Fort Worth police to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle if the suspect tried to leave. A short time later a young man got in the Infiniti and drove away, according to the affidavit.
Police pulled the vehicle over on the East Loop 820 access road. The driver was identified as Anthony Zapata. A second vehicle driven by Alexander Ortega pulled up behind officers during the traffic stop, the affidavit states. Both teens were arrested on misdemeanor drug charges and taken in for questioning.
Zapata and Ortega initially denied being involved in the fatal drive-by shooting, but later admitted the intended target was the neighbor’s son, according to the affidavit. They were unaware that the house they targeted was the wrong one, they told police.
The silver Infiniti belonged to Zapata, he said. He admitted to being the driver and Ortega confessed to being the shooter, the affidavit states. A third person, whom they identified as “Chi,” had provided the 9 mm handgun used in the homicide. Chi was described as having a tattoo on his right inner forearm.
Detectives searched Zapata’s social media accounts for “Chi” and his other nickname “Chicho.” They found someone with a profile picture showing a tattoo with the name of “Diaz.” Further investigation led them to Martin Mauricio Marquez-Diaz, according to his arrest warrant affidavit.
Marquez-Diaz had been interviewed by Fort Worth police on June 21 in connection with another case. Investigators obtained a screenshot of the teen from an officer’s body-worn camera. Zapata positively identified Marquez-Diaz as the one who had provided the gun, the affidavit states.
As of Dec. 4, Zapata was being held in the Tarrant County Jail with bond set at $160,000.
Ortega and Marquez-Diaz were recently released from the Tarrant County Jail on bond, court records state.
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 11:55 AM.
