Richardson welfare check leads to three-family-member homicide investigation

A concerned family member’s 911 call led Richardson police to a home in the 500 block of East Buckingham Road, where officers found three family members dead inside and opened a homicide investigation.

Police say the call came Wednesday morning, and investigators believe 30-year-old Hector Giovanni Herrera shot and killed his wife, 28-year-old Katherine Guadron Orantes, and their 6-year-old daughter before killing himself. Police did not release the child’s name. The motive remains under investigation.

The case has shaken a city of 119,308 people at the time of the 2020 census, where a routine welfare check turned into a fatal domestic scene behind closed doors in a suburban neighborhood. For Richardson residents, the deaths are a stark reminder that family violence can escalate quickly, and that a missed call or unanswered knock can signal far more than a welfare concern.

The case also lands in the middle of a larger Texas pattern that continues to alarm advocates. The Texas Council on Family Violence said 161 Texans were killed in family violence incidents in 2024, down from 205 in 2023 and 215 in 2022. State officials have also established a Domestic Violence Homicide Task Force to help shape future prevention efforts.

Support is available for anyone worried about family violence, whether the concern involves a spouse, a child, a neighbor, a classmate or a relative. Texas Health and Human Services says the National Domestic Violence Hotline is answered 24 hours a day, and services through the Texas Family Violence Program are free for survivors and their children. In North Texas, The Family Place provides emergency shelter, counseling, legal support and a 24-hour crisis hotline. Hope’s Door New Beginning Center offers free and confidential domestic-abuse services, including emergency shelter, counseling, legal support and advocacy. Families to Freedom maintains a North Texas shelter directory and hotline referrals.

In emergencies, call 911. For families and neighbors looking for warning signs or a place to start, the resources are already in place, and the challenge now is making sure they are used before another welfare check ends in loss.