Family gives possible motive in Port Arthur homicide

Family of Ray Riojas, including sister Delma Castro and niece Delilah Rodriguez, gather to console one another and share their memories as they continue to grapple with their loss after Riojas was shot and killed at his home on Sunken Court in Port Arthur Wednesday night. Photo taken Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less Family of Ray Riojas, including sister Delma Castro and niece Delilah Rodriguez, gather to console one another and share their memories as they continue to grapple with their loss after Riojas was shot and ... more Photo: Kim Brent/The Enterprise Photo: Kim Brent/The Enterprise Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Family gives possible motive in Port Arthur homicide 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

A work dispute may have prompted the fatal shooting of a Port Arthur musician, according to the family of Jose Ray Riojas.

Riojas, a 35-year-old whose primary job was working as a supervisor at a chemical plant, was gunned down Wednesday afternoon at his Griffing Park home while his brother, wife and two children were inside.

“My brother fired (one of he men suspected in the shooting),” Delma Castro said Friday. “My brother was the one that had to fire him. There was a dispute about the man coming back to get his tools. They shot my brother over something so stupid.”

Related: 2 arrested in connection with PA’s first homicide of 2020

Port Arthur Police Chief Tim Duriso on Friday afternoon would not confirm a possible motive for the shooting, and few details have been released since the Wednesday slaying.

Officers were called to the home in the 4500 block of Sunken Court just after 5:30 p.m. in reference to a shooting. On arrival, they found Riojas unconscious with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper and lower body.

He was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Larnell Mosley, 32, and Jeremy Roy, 30, both from Port Arthur, were arrested late Thursday and charged with murder. Both men are in the Jefferson County jail in lieu of $750,000 bonds.

Duriso said both men were at the Port Arthur Police Station being questioned as persons of interest when the arrests were made.

In 2019, the department created a special unit dedicated to the prevention and investigation of violent crime. The total number of homicides last year fell to 8 from 13 in 2018.

Riojas’ death was the first homicide in Jefferson County this year.

Minutes prior to the shooting, he had finished the final track on what would be his second album, family members told The Enterprise Thursday.

The Port Arthur native recorded music often rooted in cumbia and produced it in his home-based recording studio. Previous tracks can be heard on his YouTube channel under “Los 409 Boyz,” his production company and stage name.

“He was moving up on his music,” brother Orlando Moreno said.

Moreno lived with Riojas and was awakened by the gunshots. A video surveillance system in the home captured footage of two men approaching the front door, one banging on it with a gun in his hand, Moreno said.

Riojas answered the door with a gun aimed at the suspect, but did not pull the trigger, his brother added.

“My brother didn’t have the heart to pull the trigger, but the other guy did. He shot him two times.”

After Riojas laid down, Orlando said, the gunman shot him again.

Riojas was the youngest of eight siblings, and husband and a father of five.

His family will be selling fish plates Saturday morning at 4510 Woodlawn Street in Port Arthur. Proceeds will go towards funeral expenses.

chris.moore@beaumontenterprise.com

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