HOUSTON – A 36-year-old Cuban national is charged with murder in Harris County after surveillance video shared with KPRC 2 News captured him fatally shooting his ex-brother-in-law at point-blank range Sunday on Whittingham Lane.
Showing up to the home in a gym tank top, Andres Fernandez De La Paz allegedly shot 34-year-old Ediesky Incencio Pineiro in the chest.
The victim, who was shot in front of his family, later died at the hospital.
“He was a wonderful person. I don’t have any bad memories of him. He was a good father and friend,” said Raiza Cedeño Sosa, the victim’s wife said in Spanish translated to English.
Her sister was staying at the house and used to be in a relationship with Fernandez De La Paz, which she described as toxic and violent.
Court records reveal he had previously threatened to kill the family and flee to Mexico.
Multiple Law Enforcement Investigations
Three law enforcement sources told KPRC 2 News that Fernandez De La Paz was under FBI investigation connected to a credit card skimming scheme prior to his arrest for murder.
FBI Houston would not confirm or deny any investigations involving him, which is a standard response from the law enforcement agency if no charges have been filed.
The suspect’s criminal history includes a previous murder case from 2016, when he allegedly shot two men, killing one. Prosecutors dismissed that case the next year, writing in records that it couldn’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and citing self-defense issues.
According to a law enforcement source, Fernandez De La Paz has allegedly led a credit card skimming operation across Texas, from New Braunfels to Sour Lake, since 2022.
The Sour Lake Police Department arrested him in June 2023 after discovering skimming devices during a traffic stop in Hardin County. The police chief said officers stopped him just after he and two others had placed one at a gas pump.
The FBI took over the investigation days later, though no federal charges were filed. The three suspects were released from custody.
Last fall, a surveillance image shared exclusively with KPRC 2 News captured him allegedly using stolen credit card information to make high-value purchases through a retail chain’s app, leading to his arrest in Fort Bend County.
He was later released on an $8,000 bond, according to records.
In both arrests, records show ICE lodged immigration detainers, which means he should have been taken into immigration custody after being released from county jails.
Immigration Status Complications
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials confirm Fernandez De La Paz had been paroled into the U.S. in 2014 for a period of two years, according to an ICE spokesperson, but he didn’t leave the country when he should have.
He has been in the country illegally since 2016 and an immigration judge ordered him removed in 2019.
However, “the Cuban government refused to accept his return at that time preventing ICE from carrying out his removal,” according to an ICE statement.
Federal regulations prevent ICE from holding deportees longer than six months when their home countries refuse to accept them, forcing their release back into the community.
Read the full statement from ICE:
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement encountered Andres Fernandez De La Paz, a 36-year-old criminal alien from Cuba, April 28, at the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, following his arrest for homicide, and an immigration detainer was lodged with the jail. Fernandez was paroled into the United States Sept. 26, 2014, by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Brownsville Port of Entry, for a period of two years. Fernandez failed to depart the United States on time violating the terms of his admission. Since that time, Fernandez has continued to remain in the U.S. illegally and has been convicted of several criminal offenses including evading arrest and twice for credit or debit card abuse. Fernandez is also currently charged in Fort Bend County, Texas, with allegedly committing credit or debit card abuse for a third time. An immigration judge from the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Fernandez removed to Cuba June 28, 2019, however, the Cuban government refused to accept his return at that time preventing ICE from carrying out his removal," a spokesperson.
What happens next
A Harris County District Court Judge denied bond for Fernandez De La Paz on Wednesday, according to court records, after it was previously set at $500,000.
Records show he once again has an ICE detainer.
Incencio Pinero’s family had worried Fernandez De La Paz may execute his threats. Now they hope he will stay behind bars.
“What I ask now from the justice system is justice for my husband’s death. Give him the maximum penalty they can give,” said Cedeño Sosa in Spanish translated to English.