Francisco Chura, 90, survived an attack long enough to describe it before dying in a hospital 18 days later.
HOUSTON, Tex. — For decades, Francisco Chura’s convenience store on Canal Street made him a familiar figure in his southeast Houston neighborhood, where residents said he knew generations of customers and often helped people who needed money.
That history now forms the community backdrop to a capital murder case filed nearly 10 months after Chura was attacked in the room where he lived beside the store. Houston police arrested Anthony Cerda, 34, on June 12 and accused him of causing the injuries that led to Chura’s death. Police said Chura was 90 when officers found him injured at 7801 Canal St. on Aug. 20, 2025. He died at a hospital on Sept. 7. Cerda has not been convicted, and the allegations against him remain subject to the court process.
An unidentified neighbor interviewed by ABC13 described Chura as someone embedded in the daily life of the area. “Everybody knew him. Everybody grew up with him,” the neighbor said. The neighbor said Chura helped people and expressed disbelief that anyone would target him. Public reports provide few details about Chura’s personal life, but they show how the store and its owner were connected: He operated the business for decades and slept in an adjoining residential space, remaining close to the people who entered his shop.
That willingness to help others became part of the investigation. A woman who lived near the store told detectives that Chura sometimes loaned money to her nephew, Cerda, according to a probable cause affidavit described by Law&Crime. She said Cerda occasionally stayed at her home when he needed housing and visited Chura’s store. She also told investigators that Cerda had been at the business shortly before the attack. Her statements are allegations reported from a court filing, not findings reached by a judge or jury.
Another witness gave investigators a separate account of Chura’s interactions before the assault. The witness said he went to the store on the previous night and found it locked, but Chura opened the door and let him enter. Chura then spoke about giving money to a man who returned and demanded more, according to the reported affidavit. Chura said he refused and made the person leave. When asked to identify the man, Chura declined. The available records do not establish that the person in that conversation was Cerda.
Hours later, according to investigators, Chura was attacked while sleeping. Court records cited by ABC13 and Law&Crime allege that the assailant entered through a rear window after removing an air-conditioning unit. Chura told detectives that he woke to a man striking him and attacking him with a screwdriver. Although some source reports used graphic descriptions, the central allegation is that Chura suffered repeated blunt-force and puncture injuries. Houston police described his condition more generally, saying officers found him with multiple injuries before paramedics took him to a hospital.
Chura’s own actions provided investigators with information they might otherwise have lost. He said he remained still and pretended to be dead until the attacker left, then hid in a bathroom until daylight. He eventually went to a neighbor’s home for help. Before his death, he told detectives what he remembered and reported that approximately $3,000 had disappeared from a safe. Investigators said they found the safe open and empty. Police therefore examined the possibility that theft was connected to the assault, although no recovered cash has been publicly identified.
The scene also produced the physical evidence that would become central months later. Investigators found a bent screwdriver bearing blood, according to the court records. The bedding in Chura’s room also showed extensive blood staining. The public police release did not describe the screwdriver or announce a suspected motive, but those details appeared in records obtained by news organizations. Authorities have not released crime-scene photographs, the forensic laboratory report or a full evidence inventory, leaving some aspects of the investigation unavailable for independent review.
Police encountered Cerda in the neighborhood about two months after the attack, according to the affidavit. Officers reportedly saw a long-haired man hiding in a crawl space beneath a nearby home, and the homeowner identified him as Cerda. Chura had described his attacker as having long hair. Cerda was not immediately charged in Chura’s death following that encounter. His location and appearance became parts of the investigative record, but neither fact by itself would prove that he entered Chura’s home or caused his injuries.
During questioning, Cerda denied killing Chura and said he had never entered the convenience store, according to Law&Crime’s account of the affidavit. That denial conflicted with the homeowner’s assertion that he had visited the business and received assistance from Chura. Investigators continued interviewing people who might have information. In January, a man told detectives that Cerda had claimed responsibility for Chura’s death while the two were together after the attack. The alleged statement was not recorded in the publicly reviewed materials, and its reliability could be challenged in court.
A Crime Stoppers tip also pointed investigators toward Cerda, ABC13 reported. The outlet said court documents described that tip as helping identify him as the suspect. Anonymous tips can guide an investigation, but prosecutors generally must rely on evidence that can be authenticated and admitted in court. In this case, investigators also had witness accounts, Chura’s statements and the screwdriver recovered from the room. The final reported breakthrough came when DNA testing linked Cerda to that object.
The laboratory analysis was completed in June, according to Law&Crime. The results reportedly showed DNA from two people on the screwdriver: Chura and Cerda. Police then obtained a warrant charging Cerda with capital murder. He was already in the Harris County Jail on an unrelated matter when the homicide charge was filed, the reports said. Houston police credited homicide investigators D. Toledo and H. Martinez with the case, while the department’s Eastside Division Gang Unit carried out the June 12 arrest.
The capital murder designation reflects the prosecution’s allegation that Chura was killed during a robbery or attempted robbery. A charge, however, does not establish guilt or settle questions about how particular evidence reached the scene. The state would have to prove the required elements beyond a reasonable doubt, while Cerda’s defense could contest witness credibility, forensic procedures, the meaning of the DNA findings and the prosecution’s account of the alleged theft. The available reports do not identify Cerda’s lawyer or disclose whether he has entered a plea.
The case now moves through the 232nd Criminal District Court. No publicly reviewed source states whether prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty, and no trial date has been announced. For Chura’s neighbors, the filing marks a legal development in the death of a man they remembered less as the subject of a criminal case than as the owner behind a familiar counter. The court proceedings will determine whether prosecutors can connect the reported evidence to Cerda under the standards required for a conviction.
Author note: Last updated July 13, 2026.