Inset: Franco X. Summers (Bexar County Sheriff's Office). Background: Authorities on the scene where he allegedly killed his girlfriend's father (WOAI).
A 34-year-old Texas man who gunned down his girlfriend's father during an argument over paying a cover charge to get into a nightclub has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Franco Xavier Summers on Tuesday pleaded no contest to one count of murder in the 2024 slaying of 43-year-old Christopher Paul Fuentes, court records show. Bexar County District Judge Jefferson Moore subsequently ordered Summers to serve 25 years in a state correctional facility. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed additional charges of assault involving family violence by strangulation and evading arrest.
The sentence stems from the fatal shooting of Fuentes outside a Taco Palenque restaurant in San Antonio on Nov. 9, 2024.
As Law&Crime previously reported, San Antonio police said the confrontation began after Summers became angry when Fuentes refused to pay a cover charge to enter a nightclub. According to an arrest affidavit, the dispute continued after the group left the bar, with Summers allegedly telling Fuentes and his own girlfriend that he had a gun while they were riding together in a vehicle.
Authorities said Fuentes and his daughter eventually got out of the vehicle in an effort to get away from Summers. Rather than leave, investigators said, Summers drove toward the pair as they walked near the Taco Palenque parking lot.
Surveillance video reviewed by investigators showed Fuentes approach the driver's side window and briefly struggle before Summers reached into the car, grabbed a gun, and shot Fuentes several times. During the struggle, Fuentes could reportedly be seen telling his daughter to run away from the car.
"Franco [Summers] looked me in my eye and then shot my father," the victim's daughter told San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT. "I keep seeing my father's face once he realized that he was shot. I'm constantly replaying images in my head at night, I can't sleep."
Fuentes' daughter ran inside the restaurant for safety. No one else was injured.
Family members addressed the court before sentencing, describing the lasting impact of Fuentes' death.
"Christopher was a grandson, son, father and a friend," his cousin, Christina Fuentes, said, according to the Express-News. "He wasn't perfect. None of us are. But perfection isn't a necessary requirement for a life to have value."
Another cousin, David Rocha, said the killing permanently altered the family's lives.
"This tragic loss has shattered my family and left a permanent scar on my heart," Rocha said. "No family should have to endure this pain and loss."
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said the sentence holds Summers accountable for a killing that escalated from what began as a relatively minor dispute.
"This case is a tragic reminder of how quickly violence can escalate and forever change the lives of families," Gonzales said in a statement. "Christopher Fuentes lost his life while trying to protect himself and his loved ones. We are grateful for the dedicated work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners in securing justice and holding the defendant accountable for his actions."
Summers accepted the plea agreement just before opening statements were scheduled to begin in his murder trial.
Under Texas law, Summers will have to serve at least half of his 25-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole.