A Weslaco man is one of two people facing murder charges in connection with the death of a 19-year-old man in San Marcos.
Michael Brandon Torres, 25, of Weslaco, was arrested by San Marcos police Saturday and has been charged with murder in the death of 19-year-old Lavonte Craig Benford.
Benford was found dead inside a Craddock Avenue apartment in San Marcos on Sunday, Nov. 28, according to city police. Authorities there said Benford had suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators are currently awaiting autopsy results to confirm the cause of death.
Torres remains jailed at the Hays County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He is one of two charged in the case, the other being 17-year-old Lukas Javier Perez of San Antonio, who was arrested Tuesday and is being held in the same facility on a $550,000 bond.
Perez is facing charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In separate news releases, one on Nov. 28 and the other Tuesday, the San Marcos Police Department referred to Benford’s death as the city’s fourth homicide this year, and that information gathered during the course of the investigation led them to Torres and Perez’s arrests.
Authorities in San Marcos believe the incident was drug-related.
Multiple agencies assisted San Marcos police in the case, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, the Kyle and San Antonio police departments, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
