HOUSTON – It’s a mother’s worst nightmare—losing a child to violence with no one held accountable.
The mother of 19-year-old Victor “Trey” Gonzalez is now breaking her silence, hoping someone will come forward to help identify the men caught on camera the night her son was killed.
She asked KPRC 2 to conceal her identity, fearing for her safety, because the people who killed her son are still on the streets.
“I just feel like it’s been a little bit too long,” she said.
It has been two years, two months, and 15 days since she lost her youngest son Trey.
“He was such a kind-hearted soul—and he loved everyone. He would always tell us, ‘Don’t forget to pray.’ The only comfort I do find is that he is a child of God. He is with God now,” she said.
This grieving mother continues to pray that someone will help Houston police identify two men captured in surveillance photos.
“They shot him, and they robbed him and left him there,” she said.
Trey was gunned down in the parking lot of the Valero gas station on Homestead Road in northeast Houston. Investigators say he was walking to his car when one of the masked men got out of another vehicle and opened fire. Moments later, a second suspect got out, and both men began robbing Trey before driving away.
“They wanted his jewelry. They took his jewelry. They took his watch; they took his bag that he had money in. And he had a necklace that actually he had gotten fixed for his sister that he gave her for Christmas,” his mother said.
She believes Trey was set up.
“His girlfriend at the time, she told us what he did all day. He went to the mall, and he was hanging around someone new that he had never hung out with before. They had talked on the phone and stuff but never really hung out. They hung out the whole day and that guy told him to meet him at the corner store,” she recalled.
Crime Stoppers of Houston has now announced a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. But for this mother, true closure won’t come until the men responsible are brought to justice.
“They killed someone—brutally shot him over and over and left him there. And he was only 19 years old. So much life to live. And I just hope that they could put their selves in my position and just please, like, help us,” she said.
If you recognize the men in the surveillance photos, please call Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS. You can remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward of up to $5,000.