A Texas father says his TikTok video helped lead fort worth police To the suspected murderer of her 19-year-old son.
Luis Carlos Laguna Sr.’s son, Luis Carlos “Carlos” Laguna Jr., was shot in the head while leaving a ranch party and concert in November 2023. Earlier this month, Fort Worth police arrested and charged Martin Ramirez-Lopez. 20, In the murder of Carlos.
“He was a good kid. And I know a lot of parents say their kids were the best, but he really was a good kid,” Laguna Sr. told Fox News Digital, recalling that His son used to dance “on the drop of”. a hat, no matter what type of music was playing, or even if no music is playing,
He had recently graduated from high school and was working on obtaining his associate’s degree at Tarrant County College. From there, Laguna said, he planned to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Navy and eventually become a SWAT officer or welder.
A Texas father says his TikTok video helped lead to an arrest in his son’s murder case. (Luis Carlos Laguna Sr. I Tarrant County)
But those plans were cut short on November 18.
“My son and two of his friends were leaving this ranch party in North Fort Worth. As they were leaving, they got into an argument with another group of individuals, both men and women. And it was completely verbal. , there was just arguing back and forth,” Laguna said. “There was no pushing, no punching – nothing like that. Nothing physical. The two groups separated. My son went on his way with his friends. They got into his truck. As soon as The truck was going by, this guy shot at the back of the truck and hit my son.”
Carlos Laguna Jr. had graduated from high school and was working on obtaining his associate’s degree at Tarrant County College. (Luis Carlos Laguna Sr.)
Laguna said his friends tried to render aid until paramedics arrived, but could not revive him.
On the morning of November 18, Carlos’s best friend woke Luis and Lourdes Laguna by ringing their doorbell and telling them that there had been a “shooting” and that their son was in the hospital.
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Laguna said he and his wife are grateful Carlos’ friend informed them that their son was hospitalized because they would have never known otherwise, and that he “might have died alone in that hospital without his family.” “
Carlos Laguna Jr. was shot in the head while leaving a Ranch concert on November 18, 2023. (Luis Carlos Laguna Sr.)
“I guess my thought was…did he get shot in the arm or in the leg or in the back or what? I never thought he got shot in the head,” Laguna said, fighting back tears.
They got the chance to say goodbye to Carlos in his final moments while he was on life support in the hospital.
Carlos’s family said goodbye to him as he was briefly on life support after being shot in the head. (Luis Carlos Laguna Sr.)
The next day, a Fort Worth Police Department detective told the Laguna family that they were Carlos’s murder investigation, Laguna recalled, “But it might take a while” before they could hear anything because it happened in a remote area where there were no cameras.
Weeks passed without a reply and weeks turned into months. While Laguna had confidence in the detective handling his son’s case, he wanted to help spread the word about his son’s murder so that anyone with information could come to the police. That’s when the grieving father turned to TikTok and began sharing videos about his son and asking potential witnesses to share what they know with authorities, according to Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth First reported.
Some of Carlos’s friends had learned about the 19-year-old’s murder through social media, so Laguna thought her friends with information would be more willing to come forward if they saw Laguna demanding answers on the same platforms. Will be.
“A lot of people were saying, ‘You should do flyers. You should put up posters, put up billboards, march through town.’ But deep down, I felt like the only way to do that – to actually reach these kids who were there – would be the same way they found out about the party… either. TikTok or Instagram,” he said. “And that’s when I started taking videos on TikTok and showing videos of my son and telling him what a beautiful person he was. And I wanted people to be able to connect with him, to see that he really didn’t deserve it.”
“I wanted people to be able to connect with him, to see that he really didn’t deserve it.”
Five months after Carlos was shot, Laguna’s plan worked.
Luis Carlos Laguna Sr. remembered his son as a “good kid” who loved to dance. (Luis Carlos Laguna Sr.)
The detective handling Carlos’s case Laguna that someone saw her TikTok videos and went to police with the information needed to arrest Ramirez-Lopez, who is now being held on a $500,000 bond.
Laguna said that making the video was not always easy as it required her to constantly look through old videos and photos of her son, which brought back good memories, but with them, came a painful reminder that her 19-year-old son is now Is not with them.
The detective handling Carlos’ case told Laguna that someone saw his TikTok videos and went to police with the information needed to arrest Ramirez-Lopez, who is now being held on a $500,000 bond. (Tarrant County Jail)
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“It was very beneficial,” Laguna said. “This guy belongs in jail. I hope he never comes out of there again. And… he can never do this to anyone else.”
Lourdes Laguna said the arrest has brought “some peace” to her family, but it does not bring her son “back.”
“Another family is going to have to suffer… they’re losing their son. We’ve lost our son,” he said of the suspect.
