BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Michael Lopez, 25, has been arrested in connection with the killing of his stepfather inside their home, in far North Bexar County.
Investigators with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office booked him into jail Friday morning on a charge of murder. They found out about the crime after Lopez and his mother showed up at a Whataburger restaurant, near Evans Road and Highway 281, shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday.
James Keith, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said Lopez’s mother asked a San Antonio police officer for help at the restaurant.
"She told the San Antonio police officer that she thought that her husband had been killed and that he was at their home," Keith said.
Because their home is outside the city limits, in the 4500 block of Bexley Trail, police called for sheriff’s deputies to investigate. Keith said they found the 43-year-old victim dead with multiple stab wounds inside a bedroom of the home.
"Initially there was some thought that he may have been shot because of the severity of the injuries,” he said. “This was a very gruesome crime scene. This man died a very horrific death."
Neighbors spoke with KSAT 12 News off camera, describing both the victim and suspect as quiet. They said they did not hear any disturbance at the home and only noticed something was wrong when deputies arrived.
Keith said investigators do not believe Lopez’s mother was home at the time when her husband was murdered. They said it appears that she spoke with her son by phone, then got a bad feeling after meeting up with him at the restaurant.
“They ended up at the Whataburger. At that time, that's whenever she started putting things together," he said.
Detectives, meanwhile, are still trying to piece together what may have gone wrong inside the home. Keith said they had not determined the motive for the killing.
As of noon Friday, the name of the man who was killed had not been released.
