Two teens charged with capital murder in March 21 death of Arlington man selling car
Two teenagers have been arrested in the March 21 shooting death of 55-year-old Khudhair Hamdan in Arlington, according to a news release from police.
Luis Gutierrez, 18, and Cristian Saucedo, 19, face charges of capital murder. They’re accused of shooting Hamdan after he took them out to test drive a car he was trying to sell, according to police.
Police responded to a call around 6 p.m. on March 21 about a shooting in the 700 block of Port Richmond Way after callers reported a man was lying unresponsive in the road, according to a news release. When officers arrived, they found Hamdan there with at least one gunshot wound and had him taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said Hamdan was trying to help a family member sell a car through social media and had agreed to go for a test drive that evening with Saucedo and Gutierrez.
In an arrest warrants for Gutierrez and Saucedo, Arlington Detective Spencer Simmons cited surveillance video and witness testimony to outline what police believe happened:
Someone identifying himself as Armando Gutierrez reached out to Hamdan’s son, who was not identified in the warrants, over Facebook Marketplace to ask about inspecting the vehicle. The son trying to sell the vehicle told the man that he wasn’t home but his father, Hamdan, was, and gave him a home address.
The man got the son’s number and called him later to tell him the purported buyers were outside the residence.
Surveillance footage from the area of the shooting and nearby showed Luis Gutierrez and Saucedo inspecting a purple Dodge Charger then driving off with Hamdan. Witnesses who called 911 told police they later saw Hamdan get out of the vehicle and collapse. The 911 caller told dispatchers they were performing CPR. Hamdan was discovered by first responders to have a gunshot wound on his back left shoulder. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Surveillance footage shows Luis Gutierrez and Saucedo abandoning the vehicle after the shooting and being picked up by a black Dodge Charger with chrome wheels and a hood vent.
Police used cellphone records and GPS data to track where Luis Gutierrez was and obtain the surveillance footage referenced in the warrant. Police said the cell GPS data showed Gutierrez’s phone at the location Hamdan let them start the test drive, at the scene of the murder and in the 6200 block of Matlock Road, where Luis Gutierrez and Saucedo are seen abandoning the vehicle.
Using the cell phone information and the physical characteristics in the surveillance video, police identified Luis Gutierrez, who was already wanted in Dallas as a suspect in a 2019 robbery. Because of the uniqueness of the vehicle in which Gutierrez and Saucedo left the scene, police were able to track it down in Dallas, where it was reported being seen in a residential driveway. The vehicle was later confirmed as stolen.
After identifying and locating Luis Gutierrez, Dallas police conducted a traffic stop on the Dodge Charger. Three guns were thrown out the window and one person fled the vehicle on foot. Luis Gutierrez and his brother, Armando Gutierrez, were taken into custody. Luis Gutierrez was charged initially with unlawful use of a motor vehicle for driving the stolen Charger, then with capital murder for his part in the attempted robbery and ultimate death of Hamdan. The third person in the vehicle who fled police was Saucedo.
Saucedo was identified by a woman who was not involved in the crimes in a photograph, in which he was wearing a mask. The woman told police she’d seen him wear the jacket seen in the image and that he matched the physical characteristics of Saucedo. Cell records and GPS location confirmed Saucedo was with Gutierrez at the time of Hamdan’s killing.
Saucedo was arrested on April 7 at his home in Dallas by the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force, who took him into custody without incident.
