PHARR — Police here revealed details Tuesday about an unrelated sexual abuse case against the man they say was killed by his stepsons for abusing their half-sister.
In a news conference at the Pharr police station Tuesday afternoon, Chief Andy Harvey said Gabriel Quintanilla, the 42-year-old man whose body was found at McColl and Whalen roads in McAllen on Thursday, had previously been accused of continuous sexual assault.
That case, which Harvey said Pharr police learned about in 2019, is unrelated to an outcry Quintanilla’s 9-year-old daughter made to her mother last week, which authorities believe led brothers Alejandro, who authorities first identified as Alexandro, and Christian Treviño to assault Quintanilla.
Alejandro, 18, and Christian, 17, are Quintanilla’s stepsons and the 9-year-old girl’s half-brothers.
Although Harvey would not reveal more details about the unrelated 2019 allegations of continuous sexual assault — which he said allegedly occurred for several years — he did say investigators had enough to secure a warrant for Quintanilla’s arrest at that time.
Quintanilla, however, managed to evade authorities, and Pharr police, despite searching for him since the arrest warrant was issued over the unrelated case in 2019, wasn’t found until his body was discovered in McAllen on Thursday.
Harvey said police tried going to Quintanilla’s last known residence, as well as his mother’s residence, several times, and word that he may have been in the Corpus Christi area and elsewhere proved “inconclusive.”
“And so he has been eluding us since then,” Harvey said Tuesday, adding that authorities in Pharr were unaware of any allegations of sexual assault involving his 9-year-old daughter until last week.
At the beginning of the news conference, Harvey acknowledged the attention the case has drawn, with the Treviño brothers and a man the chief identified as their friend, Juan Eduardo Melendez, having since been arrested in Quintanilla’s beating death.
“We understand the sentiment and the attention that this case has drawn in this homicide in our city,” Harvey said. “We definitely understand that; that’s why I think it’s important to have this conversation.”
The chief had also noted several times that there was speculation about the unrelated sexual abuse case that led to an arrest warrant being issued for Quintanilla back in 2019, remarking that it was one of the reasons why he decided to call a news conference and address the media.
The Treviño brothers and Melendez remain jailed on bonds ranging from $1 million to over $1.5 million. Christian and Melendez face capital murder charges, and all three face aggravated assault and engaging in criminal activity charges.
In addition, Harvey explained that the case had risen to the level of capital murder charges due to Quintanilla’s kidnapping, in which police say the man was put in the back of a pickup truck and dropped off at the McAllen location, and that the brothers stole some property from Quintanilla.
DETAILS REVEALED
After dumping the beaten Quintanilla in a field in McAllen, investigators believe Christian removed a watch he had given his stepfather before leaving him for dead.
That detail and other new information was revealed in an affidavit obtained by The Monitor.
After identifying Quintanilla’s body, police went to notify his mother at her residence who told authorities that she had dropped Quintanilla off in the 1200 block of East Moore Road, where the mother of his children lived, the day before his death.
Once there, police spoke to the children’s mother who informed authorities that her two sons, Christian and Alejandro, had assaulted Quintanilla after learning he had been accused of molesting their half-sister. She then told Quintanilla to leave the residence and he left on foot, the affidavit reads.
The police interview with Alejandro reveals that Christian chased after Quintanilla.
In addition, it’s revealed that a fourth subject, identified as a male juvenile, who heard the initial assault on Quintanilla but did not witness it, joined Alejandro outside the residence to ask where Christian was.
Melendez then arrived in a red Dodge Charger and all three went looking for Christian who was found at an apartment complex on Linden and Coyote streets beating Quintanilla with brass knuckles, according to the affidavit.
The juvenile stated that both Alejandro and Melendez jumped out of the car and joined Christian in beating Quintanilla.
Afterward, the four left for Melendez’s residence where they were for a few minutes before leaving in a white Ford F-150 to drop Alejandro off at the brothers’ home where Christian picked up some clothing.
The three then went south on Veterans Boulevard where they found Quintanilla walking along the road. Melendez pulled over and he and Christian jumped off the truck to assault Quintanilla once more, rendering him unconscious and placing him in the truck bed where the juvenile could hear him moan in pain and “snoring very loud,” the affidavit stated.
They then drove to the open field by Whalen and McColl where they dropped Quintanilla off. Christian considered assaulting Quintanilla with a wheel that was inside the truck but the juvenile intervened, according to police.
Instead, Christian took a watch from Quintanilla that he had given him as a gift, police say.
After they left Quintanilla, the three ended up back at Melendez’s residence who started a fire to burn the clothes all three wore during the incident and where they had drinks, according to the affidavit.
View the full news conference here:
Read the latest update here:
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