SAN ANTONIO – Frank Vallejo Jr., 27, was shot and killed in a West Side apartment complex on Jan. 3.
George Amaro, 24, is charged with murder and two additional felonies in connection with the deadly shooting.
San Antonio police said the shooting appeared to happen in a breezeway of the apartment complex. According to police, the suspect, the victim, and a woman were arguing before the shooting.
KSAT spoke with a man familiar with the family dynamic and a woman named Maribel Carrizales, who was close friends with Vallejo Jr. The two people confirmed that a woman had a prior relationship with Amaro and has a 5-year-old child with him. Carrizales also confirmed the woman who was in the argument at the apartment complex has a 2-year-old child with Vallejo Jr.
Carrizales said she met Vallejo Jr. when they were both in high school.
“If you never got to know Frank, you truly missed out,” Carrizales said. “Some of my favorite memories with him are just [him] coming to my house and blasting his music so loud because he had this crazy amp in his Tahoe.”
Carrizales said she wants to share her memories of Vallejo Jr. so people remember him and also how she knew him.
“He was just a great, honorable man,” Carrizales said. “He was an amazing dad; he took care of his daughter, and he was there constantly trying to provide for her. I mean, nobody can ever amount to that. Nobody.”
According to SAPD, Amaro’s daughter was at the apartment complex when the incident happened, and after the shooting, Amaro allegedly took his daughter and fled the scene. Later in the day, police said they were made aware that Amaros was still at the apartment complex where the shooting happened. SAPD said both Amaros and Vallejo Jr. lived at the same complex.
“I never thought it could become this,” Carrizales said.
Amaro, the man charged in connection with Vallejo Jr.‘s death, has multiple prior charges, including deadly conduct with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a family violence-related charge, and possession of an illegal substance, according to Bexar County court records.
Amaro is now facing three new felony charges, including a first-degree felony charge for murder, a first-degree felony charge for burglary habitation with the intent to commit a felony, and a second-degree felony charge for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“I need people to know that [Frank] was an amazing guy,” Carrizales said.