A San Antonio man will spend the next 25 years behind bars after shooting his girlfriend’s father to death over an argument that started with a simple nightclub cover charge — a dispute so trivial it makes the outcome all the more devastating.
Franco Xavier Summers, 34, pleaded no contest Tuesday to one count of murder in the November 2024 killing of 43-year-old Christopher Paul Fuentes. Bexar County District Judge Jefferson Moore handed down the 25-year sentence, while prosecutors dropped additional charges of assault by strangulation and evading arrest as part of the plea deal.
The fatal confrontation began the night of November 9, 2024, when Summers grew furious after Fuentes refused to pay a cover charge at a San Antonio nightclub. The argument didn’t end at the bar. The group rode together in a vehicle where Summers allegedly threatened both Fuentes and his own girlfriend, warning them he had a gun.
Fuentes and his daughter eventually stepped out of the car trying to escape the situation. Instead of leaving, Summers drove toward them near a Taco Palenque restaurant parking lot.
Surveillance footage captured what happened next. Fuentes walked up to the driver’s side window. A brief struggle broke out. Summers reached into the car, grabbed a firearm, and shot Fuentes multiple times. Before he fell, Fuentes managed to tell his daughter one last thing — run.
“Franco looked me in my eye and then shot my father,” his daughter said. “I keep seeing my father’s face once he realized that he was shot. I can’t sleep.”
Family members told the court their lives will never be the same.
“This tragic loss has shattered my family and left a permanent scar on my heart,” said cousin David Rocha.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales called the case a reminder of how fast minor conflicts can turn deadly.
Under Texas law, Summers must serve at least half his sentence before he is eligible for parole.