Edinburg nightclub shooting suspect pleads not guilty

Three months following the El Antro Nightclub shooting in Edinburg, Samuel Lopez pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempting to commit capital murder to multiple persons.

Samuel Lopez stands inside the 692 courtroom at the Hidalgo County Courthouse. Photo by Maria Ruiz/Progress Times.

On Sunday, August 7, 2023, at 4:35 a.m., deputies arrived at the scene of El Antro located at the 5100 block of Raul Longoria, to discover seven victims with gunshot wounds, two in critical condition.

After investigators released surveillance footage and images from the night of the shooting, a ‘concerned citizen’ reported to authorities that the suspect was a family relative.

Lopez was later arrested under a warrant and taken into custody. He has been in jail for the past three months with a $3.5 million bond.

The seventeen-year-old San Juan native was one of three suspects involved in injuring the seven nightclub victims alongside Danny Lee Cazares, 21, and Jose Angel Favela, 18.

He stood beside his attorney, Dallas Guiterrez, inside the courtroom Wednesday morning.

“How far are you in school?” asked Judge Luis M. Singleterry from the bench.

“In my last year,” said Lopez, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, hands bound in handcuffs. “Twelfth grade.”

When asked about his client’s plea, Gutierrez answered, “Not guilty.” Charged with a capital felony, Lopez could be in prison for life or face the death penalty.

Lopez’s pre-trial will be January 4, 2024, and trial on January 8, 2024.