Man arrested in slaying of Arlington mother who was trying to sell jewelry for Christmas money

A 33-year-old man was arrested Saturday in the December slaying of a woman who was selling jewelry in Arlington for Christmas money.

April Vancleave (GoFundMe)
April Vancleave (GoFundMe)

Mario Hernan Lopez Gamez, who was arrested in the Houston area, will be charged with capital murder in the death of 33-year-old April Vancleave, Arlington police said. 

Vancleave was fatally shot Dec. 15 in the parking lot of the Pavilion apartments in the 3500 block of Timberwood Circle.  

The day she was killed, Vancleave and her husband went to the Target in the 1600 block of West Arbrook Boulevard to meet buyers who responded to her ad in an app called 5miles. Vancleave was selling two 14k gold chains and a 14k gold diamond ring for $7,000, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Vancleave, the mother of a 6-year-old girl, told her family that she had planned to sell the jewelry for Christmas money, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported

Surveillance video from the Target showed Vancleave and her husband walk in the store past two men. The men looked into the Starbucks where the couple were sitting, then got into a four-door maroon Ford truck and moved it next to Vancleave's vehicle in the parking lot, the affidavit states.

They left the store after the buyers told Vancleave through the app that they were unable to make it, according to the affidavit.

The truck followed the couple as they drove to their apartment complex.  

Vancleave's husband dropped her off in the parking lot and left for an appointment, the affidavit states.

Witnesses at the apartment complex told police they heard what sounded like a bang or a gunshot and saw a heavyset man get into the passenger side of a maroon truck. A set of keys was found next to Vancleave's body in the parking lot. Her purse and the jewelry were missing, the affidavit states.

A day after the shooting, a woman called police to report that the larger of the two men in the Target surveillance video looked like a man who robbed her Nov. 29 in Mansfield. The woman said she had met the man after he responded to a listing on a similar app called OfferUp.

Through search warrants, police traced the account information on OfferUp and 5miles to a cellphone number. GPS coordinates placed the number in the Target parking lot the day of the shooting, in Mansfield the day of the robbery, and frequently at Preston Valley Apartments in Dallas.

On Friday, Arlington police went to the Preston Valley complex in the 5600 block of Spring Valley Road and spoke to a manager and two maintenance men. All three identified the larger of the two men in the surveillance video as "Mario," who they said drives a maroon Ford pickup, according to police documents. 

The manager gave police a copy of Gamez's Honduran passport. He may face deportation. 

Arlington police detectives assigned to the North Texas task force of the U.S. Marshals Service coordinated Gamez's arrest with the Gulf Coast task force. 

Arlington police are coordinating with federal authorities to transfer Gamez back to Tarrant County.  Police are still searching for the second suspect.