He died trying to protect his wife during a robbery. Now, a suspect has been jailed

Raymond Huerta was a frequent sight at the Save A Lot grocery store where his wife worked.

“He would stop by and check on me all the time,” Jackie Huerta said.

The 26-year-Fort Worth man was doing just that on the night of Jan. 11 when two men entered the store at 5519 James Avenue and began to rob clerks at gunpoint.

Huerta had tried to intervene when he was shot multiple times.

“We were doing what we were told to do,” Jackie Huerta said Monday. “We followed directions and, for whatever reason they had, they shot and my husband did what he did to protect me.

“My husband showed his love for me ’til his last breath.”

Now, a 21-year-old man faces a capital murder in connection with Huerta’s death.

Marquis Sypho was being held Monday in the Tarrant County Jail in lieu of $350,000.

Jackie Huerta said she was struck twice, including at least once with the gun, by one of the suspects after she ran to her dying husband.

“My reaction was to run and help my husband and try to keep the man away,” she said. “That’s when I was hit.”

The two suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Huerta was pronounced dead on the scene.

On Wednesday, police arrested Sypho on a capital murder warrant in the case.

He is also being held on a charge of possession of marijuana, jail records show.

Tarrant County court records show Sypho has previous convictions for assault by contact and unlawfully carrying a weapon.

On Nov. 7, he was sentenced to six years-deferred adjudication probation after pleading guilty to deadly conduct/discharging a firearm at a habitation. He was soon placed on “high risk” community supervision conditions.

Jackie Huerta described her husband Monday as “the most kindest, sweetest, respectful man you can come across.”

“He was a family man and would do anything for those he loved,” Jackie Huerta said. “He was very outgoing, sports crazy, loyal and very faithful.”

The two had been together almost four years, more than a year and a half as husband and wife. She said her husband was born and raised in Fort Worth and also leaves behind his parents, a sister, and the couple’s dog, Lucky.

“He was the sweetest and most kind man ever. He truly loved me and I know he will be looking over me and our families, and one day God will reunite us again,” she said.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 4:01 PM with the headline "He died trying to protect his wife during a robbery. Now, a suspect has been jailed."