Community seeks answers in slaying of beloved Schertz man

Crime Stoppers offers $30,000 reward for arrest in case

SCHERTZ, Texas – A community is refusing to give up looking for the killer of a well-known Schertz man who was killed in his living room almost a year ago.

Family and friends gathered for a vigil to remember Henry Gutierrez. His son, Miguel Gutierrez, said he doesn’t feel hopeless and will continue to fight for justice.

“It’s a wonderful reminder that we're not alone in searching for justice for my father. He didn't deserve what happened to him,” Miguel Gutierrez said.

Miguel Gutierrez was the one who found his father dead on Christmas Eve last year in his childhood home.

Henry Gutierrez’s SUV was stolen and found abandoned in San Marcos, and gift cards taken from the house were later used in Houston.

“We’d love to move on, but we cannot,” Miguel Gutierrez said.

Schertz police Detective Ernest Spradling isn’t moving on either, saying this is far from a cold case.

“We're actively pursuing all tips that we get through the Guadalupe County Crime Stoppers, any leads that we get from people,” he said. “We still have evidence that's out in some of the crime labs that we're waiting for, and that evidence could lead us right to where we need to be.”

That evidence is not just what was picked up on the day of the slaying.

“It’s evidence we've gathered throughout the investigation,” Spradling said.

Henry Gutierrez, owner of Bexar Waste, was a loved community member. He was so loved that the mayors of Schertz and Cibolo both called the Gutierrez family when he died.

“He's part of the very fabric of this community, and when Henry is gone, that fabric is torn,” Schertz Mayor Michael Carpenter said.

“Not just the community of Cibolo, the community of Schertz, the entire county,” Cibolo Mayor Allen Dunn said about Henry Gutierrez’s impact.

Public officials, detectives, friends and family are praying that the public can help them find the killer.

Guadalupe County Crime Stoppers is offering a $30,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in this case, the largest reward in Texas Crime Stoppers history.

Anyone with information is asked to call Guadalupe County Crime Stoppers at 877-403-8477.


About the Author:

Courtney Friedman anchors KSAT’s weekend evening shows and reports during the week. Her ongoing Loving in Fear series confronts Bexar County’s domestic violence epidemic. She joined KSAT in 2014 and is proud to call the SA and South Texas community home. She came to San Antonio from KYTX CBS 19 in Tyler, where she also anchored & reported.