HOUSTON – A family reeling with grief over the unexpected loss of their loved one is now bogged down with frustration.
They fear 23-year-old Samuel Mata’s suspected killer, 22-year-old Jose Paredes who has been charged with murder, will try to flee the area now that he’s posted bond.
“This right here, this hurt. This broke us,” said Mariah Caballero, Mata’s girlfriend. “That’s the worst pain you can feel. I’m waiting for him to come home, and he’s not.”
Samuel Mata was the youngest of six siblings.
“He was a very loving son, never disrespected my mom, had many nieces and nephews,” said Samuel’s older sister Nereyda González-Mata.
Also known as a stellar quinceanera choreographer and drummer, the Milby High School graduate will never get the chance to experience parenthood for himself.
“We’re just so devastated,” Nereyda said. “He went out with a supposed friend and never made it back home.”
She says Paredes is someone her brother had embraced since elementary school.
“One time [Samuel] took the blame for him for an accident that [Paredes] caused,” Nereyda added.
At around 8 a.m. Monday morning, she believes her brother also tried to help a likely intoxicated Paredes by driving him home.
“When this guy would drink, he would lose control or whatever,” she said.
While en route on E Sam Houston Parkway near the W Lake Houston Parkway exit, Paredes allegedly shot Samuel twice from the passenger seat, killing him.
“And he is going to be getting released on a $250,000 bail bond. It’s not fair because we’re never going to get to see our brother, so I don’t think he should get to walk freely either,” Nereyda said.
In a Snapchat video Mata posted just hours before his death, he can be seen hanging out with the alleged killer. What led up to the shooting is a mystery, but the family has their suspicions.
“Envy is a thing, envy is a real thing,” Caballero said.
Paredes’ bond conditions require that he stay in Harris County and because officials believe alcohol may have been a factor, he’s not allowed to have any.
Mata’s family is working on funeral arrangements and has set up a GoFundMe to help with that.