A judge cited the recording while finding probable cause in the murder case against 19-year-old Enrique Aguilar.

HOUSTON, Texas — A 19-year-old man accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Mariah Alatorre after a Valentine’s Day party is being held on a murder charge after a judge said video undercut his claim that the shooting was accidental.

The case matters now because investigators say the account of what happened to Alatorre has changed since the chaotic early morning of Feb. 14. Houston police first said she was reported shot after a large party on Dagg Road. Prosecutors later said she had left the party unharmed, rode away with friends and was shot after the group stopped near an urgent care clinic. Enrique Aguilar is charged with murder. His brother, 18-year-old Romeo Aguilar, is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon.

The night began at a residence at 4637 Dagg Road, where police said about 300 people had gathered. Officers were sent there around 12:30 a.m. after a disturbance call. As officers arrived, they heard gunshots, and people ran from the property. Police later said a juvenile female was brought to a hospital in a private vehicle and pronounced dead. The person who brought her there told authorities the shooting happened while they were at the Dagg Road party. That first account placed the violence inside the broader chaos of the party, but investigators continued working through witness statements, video and the route taken after the shooting. In court, the judge said the video showed Enrique Aguilar leaning over Alatorre and “smirking and laughing.” The judge also said, “I don’t see how someone accidentally shoots someone multiple times.”

Prosecutors said at a hearing that Alatorre left the party without being wounded and was in a vehicle with friends, including Enrique Aguilar. The group then parked near an urgent care clinic, where prosecutors said Aguilar began handling a gun and the shooting occurred. Court records described by local reporting said video showed Aguilar and another male waving firearms and pointing them toward Alatorre and others before the shooting. Aguilar told investigators the shooting was accidental, according to reports from the hearing. The judge found probable cause and allowed the murder case to move forward. Authorities have not publicly released the full video, and it remains unclear who recorded it, how long it runs or whether it captures every moment before and after the gunfire.

The medical timeline became one of the first public questions in the case. The party was in far south Houston near Pearland, but Alatorre was first taken nearly 40 miles north to an urgent care clinic near Cypress before being transferred to HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest. Her mother, Yadyralia Alatorre, said she had been calling her daughter that night and later traced her phone to the urgent care location. When she called again, she said someone told her, “Mariah has been shot.” The long drive raised new questions for the family about what happened between the party, the vehicle ride and the first attempt to get medical help. Police have not announced a final public timeline explaining each stop, each person in the vehicle or the exact time Alatorre was wounded.

Alatorre’s death was first described by police as a shooting tied to the crowded Dagg Road gathering, where officers heard gunfire as they arrived. Early reports said a teenage girl was caught in gunfire at the party. Later statements from prosecutors moved the central scene away from the party itself and toward the stop near the urgent care clinic. That shift is important because it narrows the focus from a large crowd to a smaller group of people who were with Alatorre after she left. It also adds weight to video evidence and statements from those in the vehicle. Investigators have not said whether more people could face charges, whether the gun named in court has been recovered or whether the prohibited weapon charge against Romeo Aguilar is tied to the same firearm.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the Aguilar brothers were arrested by the District 1 Crime Reduction Unit and the Violent Criminals Apprehension Team before being booked into the Harris County Jail. Enrique Aguilar’s bond was later listed at $500,000. Romeo Aguilar’s bond was listed at $30,000. Enrique Aguilar was scheduled to return to court June 11, while Romeo Aguilar was expected back in court sooner on the weapons charge. Murder cases in Texas typically move from probable cause and bond hearings into indictment review, arraignment and pretrial motions if prosecutors continue forward. The record available publicly at this stage does not show a trial date. Aguilar is presumed innocent unless convicted.

For Alatorre’s family, the charges came after more than two months of grief and unanswered questions. Her obituary described her as a funny, caring and loving daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend. It said she was loyal, generous and close to her family. Those details have become part of the public record of a case that otherwise centers on police reports, bond amounts and video evidence. Her mother said the teen trusted Enrique Aguilar, a statement that gave the case another emotional layer because prosecutors said he was among the friends in the vehicle after the party. “She trusted the wrong people,” her mother said. The family has continued asking why the people with Alatorre drove so far before she received care.

The Dagg Road party itself also remains part of the investigation’s background. Police said the gathering drew hundreds of people, a size that made it difficult to sort out who saw what as officers arrived and partygoers scattered. Detectives M. Althaus and L. Lovelace of the Houston Police Department Homicide Division were listed on the initial investigation. Police asked witnesses to contact homicide detectives or Crime Stoppers after the shooting. The later arrests show the investigation did not end with the first statements taken in the confusion after the party. Instead, authorities appear to have worked backward from the hospital, the urgent care location, the vehicle ride and recordings tied to people who left the party with Alatorre.

The murder case is set to return to court June 11, when a Harris County judge could take up bond conditions, evidence issues or future hearing dates. Romeo Aguilar’s weapons case remains on a separate track while investigators continue sorting the video, firearm evidence and final timeline.

Author note: Last updated May 18, 2026.