Fernando Ontiveros, 32, was charged with murder and attempted murder in Weslaco on May 16, 2022. (Courtesy Photo)
Civil lawyers with the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office are asking the Texas Attorney General to allow the sheriff’s office to withhold a probable cause affidavit for a 32-year-old Weslaco man accused in a “very violent” double stabbing, reasoning that a minor witnessed the crime.
The civil attorneys made the request Thursday to withhold the document for Fernando Cedillo Ontiveros, who is accused of an unprovoked stabbing of two brothers on May 13.
Jose Ismael Nunez, 25, died from his wounds while his younger brother, Jose Eleno Nunez, 22, survived.
In the request, the attorneys claim the document should be shielded from the public because a minor witnessed the crime. However, the request for an opinion doesn’t say whether a minor is actually named in the affidavit.
Nonetheless, this is a routine request the DA’s office makes on behalf of the sheriff’s office regardless of whether a minor is actually named in the affidavit.
In the letter, the civil attorneys cite Texas Family Code and say a minor who witnessed a crime triggers an investigation into the abuse or neglect of a child.
Weslaco police have not said anything about an investigation into the abuse or neglect of a minor.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office will likely side with the civil attorneys.
The unprovoked crime happened at 1 a.m. that day in the 100 block of South Cedro Street where police found the brothers with serious lacerations to their bodies.
Police say the brothers were drinking beer early that Saturday morning when Ontiveros attacked them.
“This was a very violent, very gruesome, unprovoked attack and there was a lot of blood” Weslaco Police Chief Joel Rivera said at a May 16 press conference.
The chief also said a family member intervened by stabbing Ontiveros in the back, causing him to flee the scene.
Investigators, however, just followed that blood trail back to Ontiveros’ home, according to police.
Rivera also noted that Ontiveros suffers from schizophrenia.
He remains held in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a total of $1.1 million in bonds on charges of murder and attempted murder.
