Fort Worth man says he shot roommate who was trying to enter house: affidavit
A 42-year-old Fort Worth man who was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of murder confessed to fatally shooting his roommate after the victim knocked on the front door in the middle of the night, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The suspect, Aaron Renteria, told detectives he was asleep when he heard someone knocking outside the house. He took a gun and went to see what was causing the noise at the front door, the affidavit states.
Renteria unlocked the storm door, and the person on the other side — later identified as his roommate, 42-year-old Adrian Zertuche — pulled it open. Renteria tried to close it, and Zertuche opened it again. Then the two men began struggling over the gun, according to the affidavit.
Renteria told detectives he fired one shot, striking Zertuche in the neck, police said in the affidavit. Zertuche died at the scene.
The suspect acknowledged his roommate was unarmed and hadn’t threatened him, according to the warrant.
“Aaron stated it was not unusual for Adrian to knock on the door to be allowed in if it was locked,” the affidavit states. “Aaron could not explain why tonight was any different.”
Officers responded to the house in the 2800 block of Northwest Loraine Street about 12:20 a.m. They found the victim by the front door with Renteria kneeling over him, according to the affidavit.
When an officer asked Renteria who did the shooting, the suspect said “I did,” the affidavit states.
A witness told detectives he’d just dropped the victim off and was waiting for him to come back to the car when he heard a commotion inside. Then he heard two gunshots and Renteria calling his roommate’s name, according to the affidavit. The witness quickly left to call police.
A homicide detective spoke with Renteria at the scene, but didn’t arrest him at that time. The suspect voluntarily agreed to go with the detective to the homicide office for an interview.
Renteria faces a murder charge, according to jail records and the affidavit. He was arrested following the interview and booked at the Fort Worth city jail. On Tuesday, he was being held in the Tarrant County Jail on $100,000 bond.
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 2:28 PM.
