A grand jury has indicted a La Joya man on a charge of murder for allegedly shooting and killing a Rio Grande Valley social media influencer in the middle of an August afternoon.
Gerardo Chapa Jr., 30, is accused of fatally shooting 56-year-old Luis Alonzo “Pepino” Gonzalez after they got into an argument.
Gonzalez was known on Facebook as “El Cheff Pepino” and would host live-stream videos of himself promoting local businesses, like Lopez Tires and Wheels and Taqueria Alamo.
Chapa had been scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning, but that hearing was rescheduled to late October because his attorney, Carlos A. Garcia, is currently representing another client in a federal bribery trial involving elected officials and the city of Weslaco’s water plant.
In the initial news release, police said that Chapa told McAllen investigators that he had shot and killed Gonzalez in self-defense, but that detail is not included in the affidavit.
Gonzalez’s son, Kevin Alonzo Gonzalez, said that it was highly unlikely his father was the aggressor in the argument and that his dad never so much as carried a nail cutter.
“All of his close friends who knew him know my dad was a good person,” Kevin said the day of his father’s funeral at Rivera Funeral Home in McAllen.
The grieving family invited the press to the funeral as part of their journey in seeking answers about Gonzalez’s death, including when and where the shooting happened.
The probable cause affidavit said police responded to the 2000 block of Redbud Avenue at about 3:35 p.m. Aug. 1 in reference to shots fired. When police arrived, they found Gonzalez had multiple gunshot wounds.
Chapa reiterated to the responding officers that he got into an argument with Gonzalez and shot him in self-defense with a handgun he had in his vehicle.
During Gonzalez’ final live-stream video, he helped what appeared to be a homeless woman named “Angie.” He gave her a drink, promised to get her a gift for her birthday and offered to buy her food.
“If you told him that his shirt was really nice, he would gift it to you,” Kevin previously said about his father.
The grand jury initially indicted Chapa on Sept. 13.
Jail records show Chapa was released the day after the shooting on a $75,000 bond.
RELATED READING:
Demanding answers: Family speaks out before laying murder victim to rest
