Traffic stop leads to arrest of teen accused in 2020 killing of Fort Worth mother of 6

Hector Rivera did not have a front license plate on his 2012 Kia Forte.

That was why he was stopped Sunday by Parker County deputies, who eventually found out that the 18-year-old was wanted on a murder charge by Fort Worth police.

A warrant that was issued almost a year ago accused the Saginaw teen in the June 2020 drive-by shooting death of 33-year-old Carmen Enriquez, a mother of six.

“Traffic stops are never routine,” said Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier in a Monday news release. “Due to the felony homicide warrant, additional deputies were dispatched to the scene to take Rivera into custody. He was apprehended without incident.”

During the stop, Rivera told deputies he had purchased the car in May through social media, and it did not have a license plate.

Deputies ran a check on the car and the driver, discovering the 18-year-old had the warrant for his arrest.

Family members were called to the scene to take custody of a girl who was a passenger in Rivera’s car.

He was in the Fort Worth Jail on Monday.

Enriquez died as she was getting her life back in order, her sister told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last year.

Enriquez, a Fort Worth native, had spent long stretches of time without a permanent residence due to a drug habit, bouncing between friends’ and relatives’ homes, Isabel Guerrero told the Star-Telegram in a 2020 interview.

But, for several months, she was staying with her boyfriend and leading a stable life of purpose. She was trying every day to reconnect with her two oldest sons, ages 16 and 18, who grew up with her grandmother.

On June 29, 2020, Enriquez was with her two sons in front of their friend’s home in the 200 block of West Mason Street in Fort Worth to stop in for a visit, according to Guerrero. As Enriquez sat in her oldest son’s car, with the brothers both outside, two vehicles approached, Guerrero said. One person fired six or seven rounds toward them.

Fort Worth police have said that Enriquez was shot in the head after a dark-colored SUV drove by her as she sat in the parked car. A 911 caller reported her son’s friend’s mother had been shot, according to a police call log.

“It’s horrible, just knowing that you’ll never see your sister again,” Guerrero said over the phone, beginning to cry. “You’ll never hear her voice. You’ll never get to laugh with her. You’ll never get to do anything that you did before. It’s a horrible feeling that I wish on nobody.”

Fort Worth police have not released any information on a motive for the shooting.

Rivera faces a charge of murder, according to Fort Worth Jail records.

This report contains information from Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives.