An extensive search for a Texas man charged with killing five neighbors landed two others in custody, authorities said Wednesday, while hinting that they were investigating more people who may have helped the shooter evade police. Prosecutors were considering a capital murder case against Francisco Oropesa, 38, who was charged with killing four adults and a 9-year-old next door with an AR-15-style weapon Friday after the neighbors complained about him shooting in his yard while their baby slept, reports the Washington Post. Oropesa’s partner, Divimara Lamar Nava, was arrested after authorities found Oropesa on Tuesday evening at a home about 20 miles from the shooting site. She has been charged with hindering his apprehension. The two were a couple, according to authorities, though jail records showed they were not legally married. “Ms. Nava appeared to be cooperating up until the time we arrested her,” San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said. “She was providing him with material aid and encouragement, and it appears that she arranged transport to this house. I don’t know if she physically took Mr. Oropesa to this house, but she was part of that arrangement.” Another person who may have helped Oropesa was taken into custody on a marijuana-related charge and is considered a person of interest in the shooting investigation, said San Jacinto County First Assistant District Attorney Rob Freyer.
Oropesa was found hiding under a pile of laundry in a home in Cut and Shoot, Tex. A judge on Wednesday set his bail at $7.5 million. Nava was arraigned at a local court in Montgomery County on Wednesday, where prosecutors detailed how she allegedly aided Oropesa. Oropesa was unarmed and had a cell phone that he had used to contact people while on the run, officials said. “Anybody that helped this maniac has definitely got some kind of issues, as far as I’m concerned,” said Tim Kean, chief deputy for the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office. On Tuesday night, authorities, acting on a tip from an anonymous caller, arrived at Nava’s home, and she granted them permission to search the residence, ending a four-day manhunt. Freyer said that the case met Texas’s threshold for capital murder and that the district attorney’s office would “explore that possibility going forward.” Those killed were Sonia Argentina Guzmán, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.