Fort Worth Police have finally made an arrest in the murder of a mother of five who went to buy a used video game system for her kids and wound up the victim of a deadly shooting.
Rosa Garcia used the resale site 'Offer Up' that lets users find an item online, then meet the seller in person to buy it. Now as we head into the holidays, police are warning of the dangers of meeting a stranger for a sale.
Investigators are also still looking for as many as three other people involved and Garcia's family wants them all brought to justice.
“Oh gosh. She was just a great person," said Sylvia Garcia with a heavy sigh.
It's still hard for her to look at pictures of her older sister Rosa Garcia.
"Just her happy, this is how she always was," Garcia said.
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"She was trying to get a good deal on 'Offer Up' and she thought it was a good deal so she went," Garcia said.
But when she got there, with her husband and 15-year-old son, the supposed sellers pulled out a gun and started shooting, hitting Rosa Garcia in the head.
"She was everything to her kids, she was a sister, a mom, a wife," said Sylvia Garcia through her tears.
Detectives managed to trace the seller's 'Offer Up' account to 19-year-old Taejon Horton. They say they found evidence linking him to other similar crimes and a text message to a girlfriend the night of the crime saying: "I'm sorry & I really mean it. Not just to you but the people we hurt tonight. I'm leaving this street -- alone."
Now Fort Worth police are reminding buyers to use a safe zone, like a police department when meeting a stranger.
"We recommend don't go into people's houses,” said Fort Worth Police Sgt. Chris Britt. “Don't meet them in apartments. Don't meet them at night if you don't have to."
Investigators are still searching for as many as three other people involved in the crime and catching them means everything to Garcia's family.
"To serve their time for what they did. Because what they did is a pain that's never going to go away," said Sylvia Garcia. “If anybody would know anything just come forward. It could help the family, it could help other people that they’re probably going to do the same thing to.”
Several cities have posted information about their ‘safe exchange zone’ locations online. For more information on a city's 'safe exchange zone', click on the city below:
Residents can also call their local police department's non-emergency number to find out if a city has a safe exchange zone.
