A Hidalgo County grand jury has indicted a 31-year-old Donna man for the Nov. 14 drug overdose death of a Brownsville-based musician in downtown McAllen.
Jose Raquel Lerma is charged with four counts of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance resulting in death and serious bodily injury. He is also charged with one count of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance.
Lerma had bailed out of jail on May 7 on a total of $135,000 in cash surety bonds and $3,000 in personal recognizance bonds related to the deadly incident at the Old Beer House.
But sheriff’s deputies booked him back into jail on Tuesday based on the charges in the indictment, which was issued on May 18.
McAllen police in conjunction with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lerma on Nov. 16 after the investigation into the Nov. 14 death of 29-year-old Sergio Sanchez, who played trombone for Brownsville’s Banda La Nueva Generación de Chuy Hernandez, at the Old Beer House in downtown McAllen.
“Upon arriving at location they learned it appeared that four males were consuming narcotics in a men’s bathroom stall. While processing the scene and rendering aid to the subjects officers located cocaine wrapped in distinctive and unique packaging on two of the four males,” an affidavit for Lerma’s initial arrest states.
Cellphone video showing the overdoses circulated widely on social media and investigators say those videos and the distinct drug packaging helped identify Lerma as the suspect in the case.
“I reviewed the video and it showed Jose Lerma AKA ‘Pelon’ at the ‘Old Beer House’ interacting with the males who were later found unresponsive specifically Sergio Sanchez (Deceased male) prior to officers arriving on scene. In the video it shows Sergio Sanchez to be in good health,” the affidavit states.
The men had been sold cocaine that was laced with the powerful narcotic fentanyl, according to police.
The sheriff’s office SWAT team took Lerma into custody on Nov. 16 in the 500 block of San Antonio Circle in Alamo.
As of Wednesday afternoon, he remained in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center without bond.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the place of residence in the headline.
