San Juan police have charged a third man in connection with a fatal shooting investigators say stemmed from the sale of an iPhone.
Authorities booked 19-year-old Donna resident Alberto Magana Karr into the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on Friday on charges of tampering with physical evidence with the intent to impair and failure to report a felony involving death.
Investigators allege Karr drove shooting victim Jonathan Jacob Romero to the Bison Roofing & Construction Company’s parking lot where he dragged Romero out of the blue Ford F-150 he was driving and dumped the man’s body at the location, which is next to the South Texas Health System ER Alamo.
San Juan police also allege Karr concealed that blue Ford F-150, which investigators have been unable to locate.
The investigation into Romero’s murder began Aug. 7 after Alamo police advised San Juan of a shooting that happened that afternoon in the parking lot of the San Juan Shop Plaza at 713 W. Interstate 2.
Police have charged 17-year-old Alamo resident Anthony Joseph Ferrer and 19-year-old Donna resident Cesar Alexandro Torres Parra with murder and engaging in organized criminal activity over Romero’s death.
Detectives believe Torres and Ferrer met with Romero and Karr, who were in the Ford F-150, to sell Ferrer’s iPhone, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police say they have surveillance video showing a white Chevrolet Malibu registered to Ferrer at the San Juan Plaza between 3 and 3:15 p.m. before the blue Ford F-150 arrived.
According to a probable cause affidavit, both Ferrer and Torres, who are roommates, got into the Ford F-150.
Torres told investigators that after he and Ferrer entered the truck, two men pointed handguns toward Ferrer, according to the affidavit.
“Mr. Torres was able to exit the vehicle and run from location and heard gun shots as he ran from the vehicles,” the document stated.
Ferrer claimed he hit the gun away from his direction, grabbed the weapon and shot toward the driver, according to San Juan police.
Both Ferrer and Torres remain jailed on a total of $800,000 in bonds while Karr remains held on a total of $75,000 in bonds.
