EDINBURG — A Mercedes man pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to shooting two brothers more than five years ago.
Jose Maganez, 45, was originally charged with attempted capital murder of multiple persons, a first-degree felony, for shooting brothers Edmundo Alvarez Flores and Jesus Adalverto Alvarez Flores in 2017.
But on Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to attempted capital murder, a second-degree felony, for the May 25, 2017 broad daylight shooting of the brothers.
Prosecutors recommended two years of prison for Maganez, who has been held at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center for 533 days on a $1 million bond. That’s about a year and six months.
The judge accepted the recommendation and sentenced Maganez to two years with credit for time served, meaning Maganez, who has 177 days left in his sentence, is likely eligible for parole.
Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza announced in 2021 that Maganez had been arrested at the Gateway International Bridge after fleeing to Mexico in 2017.
According to a criminal complaint, an Hidalgo County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a residence in rural Donna on Mile 10 North, just east of Farm-to-Market Road 493.
Several witnesses told police they heard gunshots being fired rapidly.
Minutes later, Donna police contacted the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office in reference to a red Chevrolet truck with gunshot holes and a blood-stained interior. The truck belonged to the Alvarez brothers, according to the complaint.
“Edmundo was transported to a local hospital for a gunshot injury to the face,” the complaint said.
Sheriff’s investigators interviewed Jesus, who said that a man driving a dark gray Ford F-150 parked in the middle of the road, got out of his vehicle and began to shoot at them.
Jesus told police that his brother had been shot, so he turned the truck around to get away from the shooting, but he eventually had to stop on the expressway because his truck had a flat tire.
On May 30, investigators arrived at Maganez’s residence and spoke to a man named Jose Fernando Zavala Renteria. He told police that Maganez told him he had been involved in a shooting and had since left for Mexico.
Authorities spoke with Maganez, and he told them he was in Mexico during the shooting. However, cellular phone data and records obtained by police from Maganez’s mobile service provider revealed he was in the area of the crime scene at the time of the shooting.
