Juan Carlos Alvarez

Juan Carlos Alvarez, born on March 9, 1977, in San Luis, Mexico, was a Hispanic male who worked as a laborer and had no prior prison record. He was 22 years old when received into custody on November 17, 1999. Alvarez was involved in multiple shootings in Houston, Texas, in June 1998. On June 6, 1998, he fired an SKS assault rifle at a group of people at an apartment complex, suspecting some were members of a rival gang; two brothers were killed and six others injured, although ballistics tests showed he did not fire the fatal bullets. He helped plan the attack and supplied one of the cars used. On June 17, 1998, Alvarez shot and killed two young males with shotguns at close range in an apartment complex; he supplied the shotgun and the same SKS assault rifle used in the previous incident, and was identified as the shooter. Officers found the shotgun and SKS assault rifle in his closet. Evidence showed none of the victims in these incidents were gang members. Additionally, evidence at the punishment phase indicated Alvarez shot and killed a Hispanic in an apparent random attack on May 30, 1998, while the victim was driving home on IH-45 in Houston. Alvarez participated in two drive-by shootings on June 20, 1998, with three co-defendants; none of the victims were gang members. Alvarez was convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death.