Four Teens Kill a Homeless Man For $1

Four teens (Ages 16 to 18) have been arrested in the April 4 fatal shooting of a Mexican national at a northwest Houston parking lot.

At first, it appeared Miguel Ramos lost his life over a rotisserie chicken and a bicycle, which would have been senseless enough. But it was money the four teens who robbed him were after, and they left Ramos to die in a dark northwest Houston alley after shooting him and taking everything he had – a single, torn dollar bill.

The four teenagers who were charged with capital murder Tuesday for killing him were looking for prostitutes to rob that night, but couldn’t find any, police said. At about 10:30, heavily armed and cruising around in a dark green Honda, they happened to see Ramos at Tezzie’s Mesquite Grill, a food truck parked on the corner and figured if he was buying a chicken, he would have money.

They were wrong.

The owner of the food truck, said she knew Ramos. He was a good man and she trusted him. That night she sold him a chicken on credit because he didn’t have any money.

As the investigation unfolded it emerged the teens had gone looking for money because Correa was out of work and he needed supplies for his 1-year-old baby.

Villarreal was driving the car. Fernandez had a .25 pistol; Correa a .38. The 16-year-old girl was in the back with a shotgun. Fernandez and Correa accosted Ramos and his two friends in an alley leading to a run-down trailer park where the homeless men squatted in an abandoned trailer.

According to the juvenile girl, two of the men started fighting with Fernandez and Correa. She got out of the car and fired the shotgun at them, but missed. Fernandez then shot Ramos in the heart and they fled. The girl later told police she thought they had gotten $2 for their efforts.

A witness told police he ran over to Ramos, his friend, who was lying on the ground. Ramos said “it hurts” and then stopped breathing, the witness said.

All had confessed to their roles in the murder. Police believe the quartet is responsible for as many as a dozen home invasions and robberies since March. 1.