A 37-year-old Pharr resident entered a not guilty plea Friday morning to charges of murder and tampering with evidence.
A Hidalgo County grand jury indicted Gilbert Daniel Montalvo Garren on the charges for the beating death of Ricky Dowal Etheridge on Aug. 29.
Jose Luis Sanchez, a 46-year-old Edinburg resident, and Daniel Barker, a 20-year-old Mission resident, are also charged with murder for Etheridge’s death.
Barker also faces an additional tampering with evidence charge.
The men are accused of restraining Etheridge in an apartment in the 1000 block of North 15th Street and beating him to death with bolt cutters and a wooden board.
McAllen police discovered his body on Sept. 1 after his girlfriend called police to report a disturbing phone call.
“McAllen Police Detectives had received information from the victim’s girlfriend indicating that she had not heard from her boyfriend, Ricky Etheridge. The girlfriend said she received a phone call from a friend of Ricky’s who told her that Ricky may have been beaten and shot,” a probable cause affidavit states.
Investigators believe the men killed Etheridge over a drug theft.
However, McAllen’s 2020 uniformed crime report classifies Etheridge’s murder as the result of an argument.
Police are still looking for Rene Everett Casas, 47, who has a murder warrant. He was the first suspect police identified in the case.
Anyone with information about Casas’ whereabouts or the murder are asked to call McAllen Crime Stoppers at (956) 687-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be anonymously submitted through the smartphone app “P3 TIPS.” A cash reward may be available if information leads to an arrest.
All of the men remain jailed.
