For Patricia Flores, Monday morning’s deadly shooting hit especially close to home.
Flores, who lives next door to the home on Lindale Street where a man and woman were killed, said she knew both victims, and the man police say was involved in the shooting.
Houston police said the shooting stemmed from a domestic violence incident involving the woman’s ex-boyfriend. The man was taken into custody near Dayton after investigators received tips from the community and used Flock cameras, police said. No charges had been filed as of the time this story was published.
The woman killed was identified as 29-year-old Dariela Cardona, according to her father, who spoke with reporters off camera. Cardona was shot outside the home where she grew up.
The man killed alongside her has not yet been publicly identified.
Flores said she had known Cardona and her family for years. She also said she had known the man accused in the shooting since he was in elementary school with her sons.
“When you know he said it was Dariela, my heart just started pounding so fast,” Flores said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Flores said learning that the other victim was also killed made the situation even harder to process.
“I was really in shock to find out the person who did it, really in shock,” she said.
She described the neighborhood as one where residents have known each other for years and said the violence was difficult to comprehend.
“Watch who you meet, know who you are dating, because nowadays you can’t trust nobody,” Flores said. “Because I was in shock, the person who did it, because I also know him.”
Cardona’s family described her as happy, hardworking and loving. She was a mother and hairstylist who leaves behind two boys.
An uncle of Cardona’s sons said the family is grateful the children were not at the home when the shooting happened.
“What if he would have shot my nephew or the little boy?” he said. “I’m grateful that they weren’t here.”
For Cardona’s family, the focus now is on caring for her two boys as they deal with the loss of their mother.
Homicide investigators spent several hours at the scene Monday as they worked to piece together what led to the deadly shooting.
