It was supposed to be a quiet Monday morning on York Drive in Clovis, New Mexico. But just before 5:00 a.m. on December 15, the silence was shattered by a 911 call reporting a burglary. When officers pulled up to the Munoz family home, they found 19-year-old Darren Munoz standing by an open garage. He looked calm, telling the police it was all a mistake and that his parents, Oscar and Dina, were just upstairs sleeping. He even tried to talk the officers out of coming inside.
The scene turned dark the moment police stepped through the door. While checking the house, Darren emerged from a bedroom with blood visible on his hands. Inside the master bedroom, the reality of the night was laid bare. 58-year-old Oscar Munoz and 71-year-old Dina Munoz had both been shot in the head while lying in their bed. Dina died where she lay. Oscar was still clinging to life and was rushed to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, but he wouldn’t make it through the day.
Detectives didn’t take long to realize this wasn’t a burglary gone wrong. There was no forced entry and nothing of value was missing. Instead, a chilling motive began to surface through interviews with friends and family. Darren’s girlfriend reportedly told investigators that the 19-year-old was obsessed with his father’s money. He allegedly believed Oscar owned a profitable Allsups convenience store franchise and figured that if his parents were “out of the picture,” he would inherit the entire estate and financial holdings.
To pull it off, Darren allegedly recruited his 18-year-old friend, Julio Zamora. Investigators believe the two had been planning the hit for weeks. The plan was cold and calculated: Zamora was to sneak in through the garage in the early hours and kill the couple in their sleep. Darren even had a backup person lined up just in case Zamora got cold feet. Surveillance footage from the evening before showed Darren tucked a 9mm handgun into his waistband, and records showed the group had recently gone out to buy ammunition together.
When police caught up with Julio Zamora outside his own home, they found him carrying a 9mm “ghost gun”—a firearm without a serial number—that matched the weapon used in the killings. Zamora reportedly cracked during questioning, admitting to police that Darren had asked him to kill his parents. It was a betrayal that left the local community in Clovis reeling, as the couple had just returned from a weekend trip to San Antonio celebrating their wedding anniversary.
In court, Darren Munoz and Julio Zamora both stood before a judge and pleaded not guilty. Darren is facing a mountain of charges, including first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation to commit murder. Zamora is facing similar counts for his role as the alleged triggerman. For now, both teens are behind bars as the legal system begins the slow process of untangling a case built on a son’s alleged desire for a fortune that wasn’t even his yet.
This tragedy has left a hole in the Clovis community. Neighbors described the Munoz family as hardworking people who certainly didn’t deserve to have their lives cut short by the very person they raised. As the investigation continues, more details are emerging about the weeks of text messages and secret meetings that led up to that final, fatal morning. It’s a somber reminder of how quickly greed can turn a family home into a crime scene.
