HPD arrests man accused of Love’s Travel Stop parking lot killing allegedly caused by 1 punch swing

This week, Houston police arrested Maximiliano Gamez, 43, nine months after he allegedly punched a 59-year-old man, leading to the victim’s death last summer.

Gamez was apprehended by a Houston Police Department Crime Suppression Team on Tuesday, charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

According to HPD’s homicide division detectives, the incident occurred on June 26, 2023, at the Love’s Travel Stop on North McCarty Street in Houston’s Pleasantville Area. Allegedly, Gamez confronted Andres Marroquin, who was in a vehicle attempting to exit a parking space. Gamez, driving a blue truck, blocked Marroquin’s path, leading to a verbal altercation. During the altercation, Gamez purportedly punched Marroquin in the head before driving away.

Marroquin sustained severe head trauma and was hospitalized at Ben Taub Hospital for four months before succumbing to his injuries on Nov. 1, 2023.

Details on how detectives identified Gamez as the suspect were not provided in an HPD news release on Wednesday. However, court documents revealed Gamez’s prior convictions, including aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in August 1996 and a felon in possession of a weapon charge nearly 12 years later.

Gamez was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.