The Lonestar Fugitive Task Force has arrested a man in connection with a homicide near a homeless camp in southeast Austin on Monday afternoon.
Zacariah Mechi Lopez, 23, was arrested on March 8, a day after a shooting in the 4400 block of East Riverside Drive, which is near the intersection with South Pleasant Valley Road. He was booked into Travis County Jail for first-degree murder on a $250,000 bond.
Police said the shooting took place near an encampment under a roadway. “I cannot say whether the person was living in the tents at this time, we’re not sure. But it occurred near that area,” said Officer Alexandra Parker, a public information officer with the police department, in a briefing at the scene.
The victim was later identified as Jesse Robert Hernandez, 24. When officers arrived, they worked to revive him, but died at the scene at about 2:18 p.m. His death is being investigated as Austin’s 16th homicide of 2022.
