A 23-year-old Texan has been charged with the murder of a man he tortured by shoving push pins into the soles of his feet then stabbing him to death in an abandoned Houston apartment.
Richard Plata, 23, was arrested and charged with the murder of his friend Richard Davis on August 4, a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department told DailyMail.com.
Davis, 67, was found dead in the apartment at 6550 Hillcroft Avenue at around 5am on July 19 – the same complex where police uncovered another body in a dumpster last May.
Prosecutors say Davis was tied up by the 23-year-old, who then inserted push pins at the soles of his feet, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Police found blunt force trauma on Davis, including stab wounds.
Plata was arrested on a $1 million bond and is set to appear in court on August 29.
Richard Plata (above), was arrested on August 4 for the murder of his friend, Richard Davis. Davis was a 67-year-old man that was found deceased in an abandoned apartment with trauma to his body. Plata was arrested on a $1 million bond and is set to appear in court on August 29
Davis was found deceased in an abandoned apartment located at 6550 Hillcroft Avenue about 5am on July 19
Before Davis was murdered at the complex, a tenant had discovered a body in a dumpster at the complex in May 2021.
The victim, later discovered as Leondra Addis, 41, was found stabbed and wrapped in a tarp.
Police later charged Walter Michael Oliver with murder in August 2021. At the time investigators linked Oliver with the death of the 41-year-old, he had already been in jail on aggravated assault charge.
Walter Michael Oliver (pictured) was charged with the murder of Leondra Addis, 41. Addis was killed in May 2021 and her body was found wrapped inside a dumpster outside of the Houston apartment complex
The Houston murder of Davis occurred around the same time a grandfather and his four grandchildren were killed by an escaped convict in Texas on June 2.
The five victims were slain after arriving on a weekend visit to the family’s ranch in Centerville, about 100 miles north of Houston, where Mexican Mafia hitman Gonzalo Lopez was apparently hiding out after escaping from a prison transport van in the area three weeks before.
Mexican Mafia hitman Gonzalo Lopez was killed in a police shootout after escaping prison and killing five family members
Mark Collins, 66, brothers Waylon, 18, Carson, 16, and Hudson, 11, and their cousin Bryson, also 11, were killed by Lopez.
Lopez killed the family, stole their truck as well as a pistol and AR-15 rifle, and was killed on the same day in a shootout with police after an all-points bulletin was issued on the stolen vehicle.
Following his escape, law enforcement vigorously patrolled Highway 7 and other roads in Centerville, escorting many of the city´s nearly 1,000 residents to their homes to ensure they felt safe.
Concerns over his whereabouts were justified: Lopez’s long criminal history included convictions for capital murder, attempted capital murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault.
Authorities said he belonged to the Mexican Mafia, which is a prison gang, and was a contract killer for at least two drug cartels.
Waylon Collins, 18, played baseball at Tomball High School, where he had just graduated, and also worked as an umpire for Little League games
Brothers Waylon, 18, Carson, 16, and Hudson, 11, (together left) and their cousin Bryson, also 11 (right) were killed alongside their grandfather at the family’s Texas ranch
Grandfather Mark Collins, 66, was taking the four boys out to the family ranch for a weekend of fishing, boating, and target shooting