A 50-year-old man was fatally shot Friday night at an apartment complex in Lake Highlands, Dallas police say.
Officers responded shortly before 10 p.m. to the Villas at La Risa apartments in the 12800 block of Jupiter Road, where they found Rogelio Martinez-Garcia with a gunshot wound in the parking lot.
Martinez was transported to a local hospital, where he died. He left behind a wife, six step-children and 13 grandchildren.
His stepdaughter Laura Vasquez said in the 20 years he was married to her mom, he treated all of the children as his own.
"He’s always been there for us. You know, any help we needed… anything he was just a phone call away," Vasquez said.
Vasquez said Martinez and her mom had just returned home from a party Friday night. The last time her mother saw him, he had left to take out the trash as he did every night before bed.
“He told my mom that he would take out the trash. And my mom just said, 'Go, go. I’m going to take my medicine and take my blood pressure,' she wasn’t feeling well. And he never came back," Vasquez said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
When police arrived around 10 p.m., neighbors told them they heard gunshots, though Vasquez said no one claimed to know who shot Martinez or why.
“You just keep thinking about how it was and how he felt... and knowing nobody was there for him," Vasquez said.
The family's now raising money to bury their father and grandfather through GoFundMe.
Anyone with information about the shooting may call Det. Christopher Walton at 214-671-3632 or email christopher.walton@dallascityhall.com.
Crime Stoppers is offering up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment. Tips may be made by calling Crime Stoppers at 214-373-8477.
