Documents detail homicide scene

Courtesy photo Enrique Deleon

Benna Sayyed

Clovis police responding to a double homicide Tuesday night said they found the brother of one of the victims kneeling over the accused killer “beating him in the head with his fists,” according to court documents released Thursday.

The documents, affidavits filed requesting arrest warrants, detail the scene at 1004 1/2 Prince Street, the home of Joe Valero, 44, and Lupita Casteneda, 25.

Police said Valero was dead at the scene and Casteneda died a few hours later at a Lubbock hospital from gunshot wounds.

Enrique Deleon, 25, of Clovis, is charged with two open counts of murder, accused of shooting the couple with a .45 caliber handgun when arguments over local gangs escalated during an alcohol-fueled neighborhood barbecue.

According to the documents, police said:

n Frank Valero, the brother of Joe Valero, had just left Joe’s home when he heard four gunshots.

These shots were also heard by a neighbor, who earlier spotted Joe Valero, Frank Valero, Casteneda and Deleon, drinking beer in Joe’s yard.

Running back to his brother’s home, Frank discovered Joe on the ground and immediately tried to enter to call 911.

After failing to get in, Frank bolted to the neighbor’s home shouting, “Joe has been shot,” and told him to call the police.

The neighbor and Frank then rushed to Joe and attempted to revive him. The neighbor said he saw Deleon walk out of his residence to the fence separating the houses and say, “I’m sorry, is he OK?”

The neighbor said Frank then jumped the fence and engaged in a fistfight with Deleon, taking Deleon to the ground. The neighbor said he checked Casteneda for a pulse and found a faint one.

• When a Clovis officer arrived he found Casteneda face down on the ground with blood on her shirt, and a “puncture style wound” to her lower abdomen.

The officer found Joe close by in the yard, lying on his back in a pool of blood without a pulse. He was not breathing.

• Another officer spoke with three children inside Joe’s apartment after the incident. One of the children told police she saw a man in a muscle shirt “had a gun and killed my dad.”

• During an interview with a Curry County Sheriff’s investigator, Deleon’s wife, Shawna Perry, said two separate altercations took place between Joe Valero and Deleon.

According to Perry, Joe pushed Deleon to the ground causing Deleon to sustain a bleeding head wound.

She said after helping Deleon and her three children into their residence, Deleon became agitated and went to their bedroom where he attempted to open a safe containing several firearms.

She said she tried to verbally and physically interfere to prevent him from retrieving guns from the safe, but was unsuccessful. After continually trying to dissuade Deleon, she said he went outside and shots were fired.

• Another police officer said that upon arrival he found Shawna Perry crying and she pointed to her front door. Perry said police would find what they were looking for inside on the couch. The officer found a pistol inside Perry’s home that had apparently been recently fired.

Thursday, Clovis Police Chief Steve Sanders said he is awaiting results from an autopsy to determine how many gunshot wounds each victim suffered.

Deleon is being held at the Curry County jail without bond.