A 56-year-old Palmview man charged along with his son on charges of attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping has died.
Prosecutors notified state District Judge Letty Lopez on Tuesday that Rodrigo Serna died from heart disease at his home on Aug. 16, court records show.
The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Rodrigo, citing his death.
Lopez had not signed off on the motion as of press time.
Palmview police arrested Rodrigo on June 11, 2019, on allegations that he and his son, Ricardo, kidnapped, beat and shot a man on May 6, 2019.
Ricardo is also charged with attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping.
Police allege the men held another man against his will in the 1000 block of Ricardo Avenue in Palmview and shot him in the leg three times with an AK-47.
Authorities say the alleged victim, who knew the men, had knocked on their door when Ricardo pointed the AK-47 at him while Rodrigo hit him with a beer bottle, according to a probable cause affidavit.
After their arrest, police say Ricardo told them that he had met the man several days before and something had gone missing from his house, prompting him to call the man to return the item, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The Sernas also alleged the man was going to rob them, police say.
When investigators looked into the claim, however, they say the Sernas owed the man money and he was looking to collect when he showed up at their house.
Ricardo has not yet been arraigned on the more than two-year-old charges because he has remained in federal custody on charges of unlawful possession of an AK-47, two counts of kidnapping, a count of hostage taking and another count of violent crime/drugs/machine guns.
He pleaded guilty on Jan. 11 to charges of hostage taking and violent crime/drugs/machine guns.
He’s indicted along with 11 other people in that case where federal prosecutors accuse the group of conspiring to kidnap and hold four people for ransom over a two-day period in May 2019.
Ricardo is scheduled for sentencing in early November, court records indicate.
An arraignment date in state court on the attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping indictment has not yet been scheduled.
