Angel Herrera
A jury found a 25-year-old Weslaco man guilty of killing a man at the onset of the pandemic in a crime that triggered a three-hour manhunt and caused a lockdown at Weslaco East High School.
Angel Herrera was convicted of murder and two drug charges Thursday following a trial that began Monday for the June 8, 2020 daylight shooting death of 36-year-old Guadalupe Salinas Jr. The shooting occurred in the 2400 block of 12th Street and Pleasant view Drive.
He was sentenced to 64 years on the murder charge, received 20 years on a possession of a controlled substance charge and another one-and-a-half years on a charge of possession of marijuana, according to court staff.
Weslaco police arrested Herrera following the hours-long manhunt after finding him armed with a handgun and barricaded inside a bedroom.
Following his arrest, Herrera claimed self defense, telling investigators that he shot Salinas, who had driven to his house, in self defense because he was not going to allow Salinas to kill him, “so he shot him,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
However, the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the FBI recovered text messages between Herrera and Salinas that showed a growing dispute between the two that led to the murder, according to a news release.
The shooting happened at approximately 12:10 p.m. that day after Herrera’s neighbors reported hearing gunshots.
Responding officers found a white Mercury with eight bullet holes in it parked on the roadway in front of the driveway.
Witnesses at the scene told officers that the man who fired the shots may be in the residence but after making entry, police didn’t find Herrera, sparking the manhunt.
Meanwhile, police found Salinas slumped over to his right inside the white Mercury with blood on his shot. He had been shot three times, according to a news release.
Investigators said in the affidavit that they also obtained surveillance footage that showed Herrera standing in the roadway like he was waiting for someone prior to the neighbors hearing the shots.
By 3:11 p.m. that day, police found Herrera in a back room of a residence behind a locked door. The Monitor requested the affidavit for Herrera’s arrest from the Weslaco Municipal Court, which redacted the location of where police found Herrera.
Officers then used “a tool” to try and open the door, which was unsuccessful because Herrera had pushed a couch up against it. Police, however, pushed a window AC unit out and gained a visual of Herrera, who was armed with a handgun, according to the affidavit.
Police ordered him to drop the gun, which he did. Authorities then made entry to the room and used a Taser on Herrera, according to the affidavit.
Investigators recovered a 9mm Ruger from the room and recovered a total of nine bullet casings at the crime scene.
Authorities also found 12.2 grams of cocaine, 4.5 grams of Xanax and 39.26 ounces of marijuana in Herrera’s bedroom.
District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez Jr. commended prosecutors Ben Abila and Jose Garcia for securing the conviction.
“I commend ADA’s Ben Abila and Jose Garcia for prosecuting this case and obtaining justice for Mr. Salinas and his family,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “I also want to thank the great investigative work by the Weslaco Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and FBI.”
