A man's alleged recklessness has led to a lifetime behind bars after he brutally murdered a father in front of his daughter, leaving a grieving family in Houston grappling with the devastating aftermath.
On Easter Sunday 2021, 37-year-old Miguel Vasquez took his 10-year-old daughter for a night of enjoyment at a Houston Dave & Buster's when they were confronted by a man attempting to rob them, according to Houston police. The suspect, demanding Vasquez's watch, put him in a chokehold and fatally shot him before fleeing empty-handed. Vasquez was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead. Fortunately, the young girl escaped physical harm. Detectives found a 9 mm cartridge at the crime scene.
Initially perplexed by the seemingly random murder, investigators released a composite sketch of the suspect and surveillance footage of the getaway car a week later. Unbeknownst to them, the suspect had already been apprehended in connection with another crime, and the murder weapon was in their possession. Four days post-Vasquez's murder, police responded to a home where a 3-year-old had accidentally shot himself with a gun allegedly left atop a bathroom by his father, Nicholas Dwayne Thomas, who was subsequently arrested for endangering a child.
Linking the guns from the accidental shooting and the murder, Thomas was arrested on a first-degree murder charge on June 16, 2021. Despite a hung jury in an earlier trial, a subsequent attempt by prosecutors resulted in Thomas, 26, being convicted by a jury and subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole. Records indicate that his separate accidental shooting case was dropped following the murder conviction.
“It’s not going to bring him back, but it’s just so another family doesn’t have to go through what we went through,” expressed Vasquez’s sister, Angeles Alcantara.
Miguel Vasquez, a devoted provider for his family, leaves behind a grieving wife and two children, prompting a GoFundMe page to highlight his dedication and the unimaginable pain the family is enduring.
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