A San Antonio man was convicted of murder in the 2022 shooting of a tenant during an argument over rent money.

A Bexar County jury on Tuesday found 62-year-old Peter Balraj guilty of murder, tampering with evidence and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the fatal shooting of Christopher Vargas, 32.

Judge Jennifer Pena, who presides in the 290th Criminal District Court, sentenced Balraj to 45 years in prison.

Joshua Walls, 22, the boyfriend of Balraj’s daughter, was convicted of murder and robbery and sentenced to 24 years: five for the robbery conviction and 19 for murder.

Walls’ roommate, 29-year-old Adrian Gomez, pleaded no contest to manslaughter and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Balraj conspired with the two others to use “intimidation tactics against Vargas to compel him to pay past due rent and leave the premises,” the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said.

On Dec. 18, 2022, 911 operators received a call from a home in the 3200 block of Nantucket Drive on the North Side, according to an arrest affidavit.

The dispatcher could hear men arguing in the background. One of the men asked another to put away a gun, the affidavit says. A second man could be heard saying that he was not going to drop his knife because the other man had a gun.

The dispatcher then heard a gunshot.

Police did not respond to the home until Dec. 30, 2022, when they found Vargas dead in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to his hip. Officers found a knife and a spent shell casing near the body, an affidavit said.

A witness told investigators that Vargas was renting a bedroom from Balraj and was two months behind on rent.

In an interview with police after the shooting, Balraj claimed Vargas stole property from him.

He showed officers text messages in which he asked Walls and Gomez to help collect the overdue rent because it was his only source of income. The texts indicated that Balraj and Gomez were going to the Nantucket Drive residence on Dec. 18 to “handle it,” the affidavit said.

Balraj later told police he knew Gomez had a gun and believed he was going to threaten Vargas but would not shoot him.

Walls told police that Gomez shot Vargas.

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This article originally published at San Antonio man gets 45 years for killing tenant who was behind on rent.