Security guard admits to fatally shooting wife, man

NEAR LA HOMA — A security guard admitted to killing his wife and another man using his service weapon early Saturday morning.

Sheriff’s deputies rushed to Juan Huerta’s apartment near Bentsen Palm Drive and 4 Mile Line about 12:55 a.m. after receiving a 9-1-1 call about the shooting, according to a news release issued by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.

Huerta, who stood outside the complex as he waited for authorities to arrive, told deputies he arrived home early from work that day and saw his wife, 23-year-old Alma Huerta, in the family’s backyard hugging another man, the news release states. Huerta told deputies he “snapped,” pulled out his service weapon and shot 24-year-old Juan Gamez. The 37-year-old security guard eventually turned the gun on his wife and shot her four times.

Huerta said he then called 9-1-1 to report the shooting.

Neither victim showed signs of life when emergency responders arrived, the news release states. They were later pronounced dead.

Huerta was wearing a black security uniform when deputies arrived, according to the news release. He told investigators he was employed by Magnum Force Security as an armed guard, despite a criminal record that includes convictions for criminally negligent homicide in August 1998 and attempted murder in February 1993.

Magnum Force Security owner Adrian Garcia said Huerta used an alternate name that turned up clean after a criminal background check through the Texas Department of Public Safety. The man applied for a position at Magnum Force Security as 33-year-old Luis E. Huerta, though he asked co-workers to call him “Juan.”

Garcia said he hired Huerta a few weeks ago because the man claimed to have 11 years of experience, even though Garcia had no proof that claim was true.

“I’m not going to lie — I thought it was weird, awkward,” Garcia said. “But I believed him because he knows more than me (about private security). He knows job sites, companies, owners.”

Garcia described Huerta as a “really calm guy” who seemed more knowledgeable about the industry than any other employee at Magnum Force Security.

“I thought he was going to be a really good asset,” Garcia said. “But he gave us bad paperwork.”

Garcia said the man will be fired.

“No doubt about it,” Garcia said. “He lied. … He will be terminated on the spot.”

Public records show Huerta was previously hired in May 2008 by Mission-based Rapid Security, a private security agency owned and run by Alton Police Chief Baldemar Flores. The chief’s wife, Yolanda, said Huerta was terminated immediately after the company received the results of a criminal background check.

Huerta was also hired in December 2001 by Muñiz Security, a Mission company that shut down about six years ago, according to a man who identified himself as the former owner’s son. The son declined to provide his first name but said his father, Cosme Muñiz, likely destroyed all documents associated with former employees.

“There’s Social Security numbers and other things,” the man said. “He didn’t want to be liable for it.”

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said the case will be referred to DPS, which regulates private security companies, to determine whether to pursue any charges against Magnum Force Security.

Huerta is set to be arraigned on capital murder charges Monday at the Hidalgo County Jail.

Shooting victim Juan Gamez also had a criminal history, according to the sheriff’s office. He had been arrested on human smuggling, aggravated assault and drug charges.

Saturday’s shooting deaths mark the 38th and 39th new homicides investigated in Hidalgo County this year and the 21st and 22nd for the sheriff’s office during that same time.

Before this latest incident, the agency’s most recent homicide case was opened Thursday when deputies found a man’s body in a truck parked outside a San Carlos bar. The victim, 47-year-old Marcos H. Lopez, had a gunshot wound on the right side of his head.

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Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.