As part of a broader gun-safety campaign rollout, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg joined with law enforcement and community partners Thursday to announce her office will distribute free gun safes for residents to use at home and in their vehicles.

“Safely storing firearms is critical to keep them from falling into the hands of criminals or our children,” Ogg said at a news conference hosted by Congregation Beth Israel. “These types of partnerships have let us take action in a very positive way.”

District Attorney’s Office representatives will give away the gun safes in addition to gun locks and safety information they already distribute at various monthly meetings held by the Houston Police Department. Ogg credited Academy Sports + Outdoors for partnering on the latest initiative and thanked Houston City Council Member Edward Pollard for providing funding for the first 1,000 safes.

Sixty-three people have been killed in the first 45 days of this year in Harris County, many by firearms, Ogg said. She noted that in 2022 firearms became the leading cause of death in children younger than 18 nationwide and that houses of worship have been breached. Locally, guns are stolen from vehicles at an alarming rate, the district attorney and other speakers said.

“If you can’t afford a gun safe for your car, we’ve got one for you,” Ogg said. “Lock up your guns. Together we can do this. It is preventable.”

The announcement came as part of a joint effort to reduce the number of unsecured guns in Harris County. In addition to a website, houstongunsafety.org, and gun-safety classes, traditional and digital billboards on freeways and near neighborhoods, in both English and Spanish, are bringing the message of gun safety to area residents. The digital billboards will be up through 2023.

Survivor Marentha Sargent emphasized the preventability of tragedies stemming from gun violence, and Houston City Council Member Abbie Kamin championed the collaborative nature of preventing easy access to the weapons.

Partners of the District Attorney’s Office are Congregation Beth Israel and the Minaret Foundation; Houston Police Department; Harris County Sheriff’s Office; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Houston branch of the FBI; Houston Mayor’s Office; Moms Demand Action; and Clear Channel Outdoor.

A 43-year-old man who fatally shot one of his roommates and wounded another at their southwest Houston apartment in 2017, then brutally stabbed an acquaintance a year later, pleaded guilty on the eve of trial and was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This man brutally attacked three people in two different incidents, which does not happen by chance or coincidence or happenstance,” Ogg said. “When someone intentionally hurts people, like this, we seek justice for the victims, and a long prison term is justice.”

Josue Celis-Maltes, 43, was arrested after going to a friend’s apartment at 10110 Club Creek in southwest Houston on May 5, 2018. He rushed into the apartment and stabbed an acquaintance, who was a visitor at the home, twice in the chest. That man survived.

After Celis-Maltes was in custody for that attack, Houston police officers realized he was wanted for murder for fatally shooting his roommate, 24-year-old Jaime Castillo-Vasquez, on May 28, 2017. In addition to being charged with murder, Celis-Maltes was charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury for shooting his other roommate in the face during the same incident.

Witnesses said Celis-Maltes was drinking beer in the apartment when he made a call and told someone to bring him his gun. Three of his adult nephews arrived at the apartment complex about 15 minutes later. One of them handed Celis-Maltes a silver pistol.

Celis-Maltes took the gun, walked over to where his 34-year-old roommate was sitting in the apartment and shot him in the face. He survived. Castillo-Vasquez heard the shot and came out of his bedroom, and Celis-Maltes killed him.

Assistant District Attorney Bryan Honeycutt, who prosecuted the case with Rehaman Merchant, noted that Celis-Maltes cannot appeal the murder conviction or the sentence.

“Celis-Maltes got drunk and angry and started shooting his roommates, so thank God one of them lived and was able to pick him out,” Honeycutt said. “He is dangerous and violent, and the guarantee that he will be locked up for 30 years is a good thing for Harris County.”

Today we are announcing a reward offer of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, also known as “Porky” or Alex Mendoza, for conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in transnational organized crime.  This announcement complements a U.S. Department of Justice criminal indictment, which charged Archaga Carías in 2021 with conspiracy to violate the racketeering laws of the United States, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, and possession of a machine gun in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.

Archaga Carías is the highest-ranking member of Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) in Honduras and is responsible for directing the gang’s criminal activities including drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, kidnappings, and other violent crimes.  Archaga Carías is also responsible for the gang’s importation of large amounts of cocaine into the United States.

This announcement is an element of a comprehensive effort in conjunction with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions against Archaga Carías.  Archaga Carías is a most-wanted fugitive by the FBI, DEA, and DHS Homeland Security Investigations.

The United States supports the efforts of law enforcement partners in Honduras seeking justice against violent MS-13 gang members like Archaga Carías.  In coordination with these efforts, and to complement the work of police and prosecutors in Honduras, we are announcing the new reward offer today.

Any information in response to the reward offer should be directed to U.S. law enforcement investigators at +1-202-451-8122 or +504 8886-7166 (phone/text/WhatsApp/ Telegram/Signal).

This reward is offered under the Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP).  The TOCRP and the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) have helped bring more than 75 transnational criminals and major narcotics traffickers to justice since the NRP’s inception in 1986.  The Department has paid more than $155 million in rewards under these programs for information leading to apprehensions and convictions.