El Paso police seek help to solve teen shooting deaths at Tierra Inca house party
El Paso police officials, in very strong terms, are urging witnesses to come forward as detectives continue to follow several investigative leads into a deadly shooting at a teen house party last week.
A 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man were killed in a shooting Sept. 17 during a crowded Montwood High School homecoming afterparty at a short-term rental home in the far East Side.
Four other young men, ages 16 to 19, were wounded in the shooting at a house on the 12300 block of Tierra Inca Drive near El Dorado High School. No arrests have been announced.
"We know people have information on who was involved," Sgt. Javier Sambrano, a police spokesman and liaison for Crime Stoppers of El Paso, said in a video statement.
"Those people that have information by not coming forward are as guilty as the individuals who pulled the trigger. Anybody who has information should come forward immediately."
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Julia Worthington, the girl killed in the shooting, was a student at Pebble Hills High School. The other person killed, Eliel Omar Bultron Hernandez, was a graduate of Options High School. Both schools are in the Socorro Independent School District.
Deadly gun violence as teen party grows out of control
An investigation found that students had rented the house on the Vrbo short-term rental provider for a party that grew out of control, police officials said.
In a seven-second black-and-white video clip taken inside the party provided by Crime Stoppers, partygoers are packed shoulder-to-shoulder dancing, jumping up and down and singing along to the song "Tuesday" by ILoveMakonnen and Drake.
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About 1 a.m., the party had grown out of control and gunfire rang out with six people being shot, police said. Bultron Hernandez died at the scene. Worthington died days later at a hospital.
There were likely scores of witnesses to the shooting and some frustration has been expressed within the Police Department about the lack of witnesses who have come forward.
Tipsters can remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward if information provided to Crime Stoppers results in an arrest.
The shooting is the latest in a rise in gun violence involving teenagers in El Paso following the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw a rise in firearm sales and increased mental health strains, especially among young people.
The Tierra Inca case is considered a capital murder, which in Texas is punishable by the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Police encourage anyone with information on the shootings to contact Crimes Against Persons detectives at 915-212-4040, call the police nonemergency line at 915-832-4400 or they may anonymously call Crime Stoppers of El Paso at 915-566-8477 (TIPS) or leave a tip online at cselpaso.org.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso police seek help to solve teen house party shooting deaths
