Two Arrested in November Fatal Shooting and Burning of Victim’s Truck in Houston Case

Houston police have arrested two suspects in connection with the fatal shooting of a man at 9631 Jensen Drive around 3:20 a.m. on November 10 and the subsequent burning of his truck in San Jacinto County.

Alex Mejia Pineda, 33, is charged with murder, while Alex Herrera Calderon, 24, faces charges of tampering with evidence – human corpse in the 262nd State District Court. The victim has been identified as Erik Eduardo Zavala-Flores, 28.

The investigation began when Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department personnel and San Jacinto County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a vehicle fire in a remote area near Shell Oil Road on November 10. A body was found inside the burning vehicle, which was linked to a missing person case in Houston.

An autopsy confirmed Zavala-Flores died from a gunshot wound. Investigators determined he was last seen at a bar on Jensen Drive, where he was shot in the parking lot. His body was loaded into his pickup truck and driven away by one suspect, while the second suspect followed in a separate vehicle. The suspects later transported Zavala-Flores to a remote location and set fire to his truck with his body inside.

On November 20, Herrera Calderon was arrested by HPD SWAT officers for his role in the crime. Mejia Pineda was apprehended on December 16 in Huntsville, Texas, by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force and was later charged at the Harris County Jail.