Four Hidalgo County men have been indicted over allegations of their involvement in a fatal drive-by shooting that killed a 6-year-old girl as she watched television.
Marco Antonio Chairez, a 43-year-old Alton resident, 43-year-old resident Daniel Guzman, 44-year-old Alton resident Juan Roman Garcia Olaguez and 30-year-old Mission resident William Garcia are charged with a count of capital murder of a person under 10 years old and a count of murder in the indictment.
All four appeared via videoconferencing Monday afternoon in front of 370th state District Judge Noe Gonzalez for arraignment.
However, Gonzalez rescheduled the proceeding because he wants all of the defendants to appear in-person at the Hidalgo County courthouse.
2 suspects arrested in fatal shooting of 6-year-old girl(Opens in a new browser tab)
“You will be brought to the courthouse and will have a live arraignment for each of you. The seriousness of the offense and the fact that the state still has not decided whether the death penalty will be sought I believe it is necessary to go ahead and have you live out of an abundance of caution,” Gonzalez told Chairez and Olaguez.
The judge relayed the same information to Flores and Guzman when they appeared in front of him.
Third suspect arrested in connection with 6-year-old’s death(Opens in a new browser tab)
The arraignments are scheduled for next Wednesday.
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office arrested all of the men between Feb. 24 and March 3 after deputies responded to the 2400 block of Valencia Avenue in rural Mission at 5:07 p.m. on Feb. 23, after repeated rounds were fired at a residence.
(Read: Final suspect arrested for drive-by that killed child)
One of those rounds went through two walls before striking the child who was in bed and watching television, the sheriff’s office has said.
Both Chairez and Olaguez have a $1 million bond on the capital murder charge while Flores has a $75,000 bond and Garcia has a $100,000 bond, records show.
The suspects currently do not have a bond on the additional murder count.
