Inset: Derek Owen Cuellar-Torres (Washington County DA). Background: The Oregon high school the killer and victims all attended (Google Maps).
A 19-year-old man in Oregon will spend at least a decade behind bars for shooting two teens, killing one and injuring the other, during a birthday party because the host of the party believed the victims were being “disrespectful.”
Washington County Circuit Court Judge Ricardo Menchaca earlier this month ordered Derek Owen Cuellar-Torres to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility for the slaying of 17-year-old Jesus Copado-Oropeza, authorities announced.
The sentence was handed down after Cuellar-Torres pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder with a firearm and one count of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm in connection with the attack. However, due to the state”s juvenile justice reforms, Cuellar-Torres will be eligible for parole after serving 15 years.
According to a news release from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, the shooting took place during a juvenile female’s birthday party on Oct. 21, 2023, at a home in Hillsboro, Texas, which is about 65 miles southwest of Dallas.
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The birthday girl’s brother, who was hosting the party, believed that Copado-Oropeza and a 16-year-old male “were being disrespectful” and decided to contact his friends, including Cuellar-Torres, all of whom were members of a local gang. The gang-affiliated friends were called to help the brother “confront the two victims.”
Cuellar-Torres and several others heeded the call and went to the party. Cuellar-Torres and one other member of the group were armed with handguns. They both “hid in the shadows on the side of the house” while the rest of the group went inside and lured the two allegedly “disrespectful” teen-victims outside.
“When the victims got outside, [Cuellar-Torres] and the second teenager opened fire on the victims,” the release states. “Two people were struck by gunfire. The 17-year-old victim, Jesus Copado-Oropeza, died from his wounds, and the other victim suffered non-fatal injuries.”
A total of 22 shell casings were recovered at the scene following the surprise attack.
Investigators with the Hillsboro Police Department noted that Cuellar-Torres, the friends who accompanied him to the party, and both of the victims knew each other, as they all attended the same high school.
Police said it did not take long for Cuellar-Torres and the other alleged shooter to be identified, located, and taken into custody. Once confronted, both admitted to their involvement in the ambush, prosecutors said.
Cuellar-Torres was less than a month away from turning 18 on the date of the shooting, a fact he apparently thought would prevent him from facing severe punishment.
“Investigators later found text messages between the defendant and his gang associates where the defendant complained that he was ‘losing time’ and wanted to ‘catch a body’ before he turned 18,” the release states. “In another chat, the defendant’s gang associate warned him that he would get charged as an adult for committing murder, but the defendant dismissed those concerns, saying he would blame alcohol and drugs for his decisions and would avoid punishment. In another group chat, the defendant bragged about murdering Jesus Copado-Oropeza and claimed that he could now become a cartel assassin.”
Cuellar-Torres was promptly transferred to the Oregon Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence at the Oregon Youth Authority.
