Houston man accused of beating daughter who picked black teen for dance

Aaron Aranza Aaron Aranza Photo: HPD Photo: HPD Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Houston man accused of beating daughter who picked black teen for dance 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A man has been accused of hurting his 14-year-old daughter last month in southeast Houston after he found out she had chosen a black teenager to be her partner for a quinceanera dance, officials said.

Aaron Aranza, 37, is charged with injury to a child connected to the alleged incident that occurred on April 11 in the 5500 block of Woodlark, according to court documents filed in the case.

According to the documents, the girl was having a party at her maternal grandmother's house to practice quinceanera dancing. She chose a friend, a 15-year-old African-American boy, as her dance partner.

When he learned of this, Aranza became angry, according to the documents. He went outside to the front yard where the partygoers were gathered and told them it was canceled.

The documents state he then used a racial epithet to refer to the young man when he asked his daughter if she wanted the teen as her dance partner. "Are you serious?" Aranza asked her.

According to the documents, Aranza pushed the young man, saying "I don't care that you are a kid."

Aranza then took his daughter inside the house, where he allegedly hit her with a belt and dragged her.

He also allegedly tossed her, causing his daughter to hit her arm on a coffee table. He said he was going to take her home with him to live even though she lives with her mother.

When Aranza took his daughter outside, the documents state, she struggled against him and he dragged her across the front yard. Then he left.

Police later arrested him, and he is being held in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.