Investigators say Victor Gonzalez was reporting an armed robbery to 911 and following the fleeing vehicle when he said he had been shot.
HOUSTON, Texas — A 17-year-old has been charged with capital murder after authorities say a planned property sale in north Harris County became an armed robbery and ended with the seller being fatally shot while he was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher.
Anthony Castro was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail in connection with the Sept. 13 death of Victor Gonzalez, 34, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators say Gonzalez had arranged to meet a buyer to sell property before he was robbed at gunpoint. Castro is accused in the killing, but the criminal charge has not been proven in court.
The investigation centers in part on Gonzalez’s final call to emergency dispatchers. Authorities said Gonzalez called 911 at about 4:12 p.m. to report that he had been robbed. The people involved in the alleged robbery fled in a vehicle, investigators said, and Gonzalez followed while giving the dispatcher information about their direction of travel.
During the call, Gonzalez reported that he had been shot, authorities said. He then stopped responding. Deputies later found him in the 600 block of John Albers Road, where he was pronounced dead. The encounter had begun with what investigators described as an arranged property transaction in the Aldine area.
Court documents reported by ABC13 provide additional details about what investigators say happened after the robbery. Officers interviewed a person who said they picked up Castro following the encounter. According to the documents, that person told investigators Castro got out of the vehicle and fired at Gonzalez’s vehicle. Surveillance footage cited in the records captured three gunshots, according to the report.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office announced Castro’s arrest Sept. 18. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said homicide detectives had charged Castro with capital murder for his alleged role in Victor Gonzalez’s death. The sheriff’s Violent Criminals Apprehension Team and other law enforcement partners took Castro into custody, authorities said.
The capital murder charge followed several days of investigation into the robbery, the shooting and the vehicles involved. Publicly reported court information describes investigators using witness statements, the emergency call and surveillance evidence as they worked to reconstruct the sequence of events. Authorities have not disclosed in the reports reviewed for this story every piece of evidence collected in the case.
Gonzalez’s wife, Mayra Gonzalez, later said the planned transaction had been arranged through Facebook Marketplace. She described her husband as a well-known and caring father of two whose death has deeply affected his family. She also urged people who meet strangers through online marketplaces to be careful, saying she hopes others learn from what happened to her family.
The case now moves through the Harris County criminal justice system, where prosecutors will have to prove the allegations against Castro. No conviction has been entered, and the available reports do not establish a final resolution of the case. Investigators have continued to describe Gonzalez’s death as the result of a robbery that began with an arranged sale.
Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.