Prosecutors on Monday afternoon announced they would not pursue the death penalty for the four men accused in a drive-by shooting that left a 6-year-old girl dead in rural Mission earlier this year.
The accused include 43-year-old Alton resident Marco Antonio Chairez, 30-year-old Mission resident William Garcia, 44-year-old Alton resident Juan Ramon Garcia-Olaguez and 43-year-old Edinburg resident Daniel Guzman-Flores, who all face a two-count indictment.
The men are accused of killing Yvonne A. Mireles, who was shot in the head on Feb. 23 and killed as she watched television inside her home in the 2400 block of Valencia Avenue.
Chairez and Garcia are the accused shooters, according to statements made by defense attorneys and prosecutors throughout their court proceedings.
The shooting followed what prosecutors call a neighborhood altercation and during a news conference after the arrests of Chairez and Guzman, Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra said around 12 rounds were fired at the home.
Also on Monday, 370th state District Judge Noe Gonzalez reduced Olaguez’s $1 million bond on a charge of capital murder of a person under 10 years old to $200,000.
The judge held off on ruling on a bond reduction request from Rogelio Garza, Olaguez’s attorney, at his last hearing because the death penalty at the time was still on the table.
Gonzalez explained his issue was that Mexico wouldn’t extradite him back to Texas because the country opposes the death penalty if he were to flee there should he make bond.
Olaguez, who remains jailed, also has a $25,000 bond on the murder charge and a $150,000 bond on an unrelated theft charge from 2017.
Garcia has since bonded out of jail and appeared via video-conferencing from his attorney’s office.
Chairez remains jailed on a total of $1,100,000 in bonds while Guzman remains jailed on a total of $575,000 in bonds, records show.
Olaguez, Chairez and Guzman all appeared via video-conferencing from the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center.
The men were indicted on June 16.
