One brother was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after a days-long crime spree in 2021 left one man dead and another injured.
Following a five-day trial, Alexis Salvador Ordonez, 22, was convicted of murdering 19-year-old Cameron B. Stevens at an apartment complex in Cypress Station on Feb. 6, 2021 and sentenced to life in prison.
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While Stevens did not know Ordonez or his younger brother, Kevin Ordonez, he was trying to buy a handgun from them and agreed to meet them late at night at the well-lit apartment complex.
Stevens began walking away when the deal fell through with the Ordonez brothers, who were driving a white 2012 Chevy Malibu. As Stevens walked back to his apartment, the brothers slowly rolled up to him, fired at him and hit him once in the head, killing him.
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Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the murder and began investigating, pulling surveillance video from several cameras in the area.
Surveillance video revealed the car’s license plate, linking it to an armed robbery the previous day. In that incident, the Ordonez brothers, posing as marijuana buyers, robbed a man and woman of their money, marijuana, and vehicle, shooting the man in the leg. He survived the shooting.
Although the charges against Alexander Ordonez for these two aggravated robberies were dismissed following his murder conviction, the details were presented during the sentencing phase to provide the judge with a comprehensive understanding of the crime spree.
Several charges, including murder, are still pending against 20-year-old Kevin Ordonez for his role in the crime spree. His trial is scheduled for October.
“Connecting online with strangers to buy and sell things at in-person meetups has become such an integral part of our culture that thieves and criminals are using the process to take advantage of innocent people,” Ogg said in a press release. “We have to remember to stay vigilant and try to have safeguards in place, even for transactions that come together quickly or happen late at night.”
Assistant District Attorneys Gilbert Sawtelle, who is a chief in the Trial Bureau, and Sean Kozar-King prosecuted Ordonez.
“These two brothers were working together in this scheme to set up innocent people who thought they were going to be buying something or selling something and ended up being robbed at gunpoint,” Sawtelle said in a press release. “It’s a scary thing for any citizen of Harris County because these kinds of meetups, whether it’s Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, happen all the time, and the last thing that anybody wants is to be robbed or shot.”
He emphasized that there was no justification for anyone being shot in either of the two shootings.
“These shootings were pointless,” Sawtelle said. “They got what they wanted, and there was no need to shoot anyone.”
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Sawtelle recommended that buyers and sellers bring someone with them, meet in a public area during the day, and remain vigilant. He noted that many police stations and other law enforcement agencies offer designated areas for safe transactions.