|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A second suspect in the fatal shooting of a McAllen resident has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Amador Sandoval IV, 18, of McAllen, who had been initially charged with murder, entered his plea Thursday, court records indicate.
A charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle against Sandoval remains pending.
Sandoval is charged along with McAllen resident Sandra Edith Morales, 19-year-old Mission resident Carlos Gustavo Macias and a male juvenile for the Jan. 27, 2022 death of 53-year-old Rosendo Benitez, of McAllen.
Morales also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Oct. 9.
Macias is scheduled for a court hearing next week while the status of the juvenile’s case is unknown because he is a minor.
The shooting happened that day at around 11 p.m. in the 1600 block of North 29th Street.
Benitez had been shot multiple times.
Police first arrested Macias, who had stolen a 2018 Ford Fusion out of Mission, which was the suspect vehicle used in the shooting.
He implicated Morales and the male juvenile.
A search warrant executed at his residence in Mission revealed a handgun, ammunition and a key fob to the stolen Ford Fusion. The handgun caliber and ammunition matched spent casings at the crime scene, according to a probable cause affidavit.
After Sandoval’s arrest, he also implicated his co-defendants and corroborated their statements, according to the affidavit.
Morales, who has not been sentenced, bailed out of the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center following her guilty plea on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond.
Sandoval also received a $50,000 personal recognizance bond following his plea. He also received a $50,000 personal recognizance bond on the unauthorized use of a vehicle charge.
Macias remains jailed on a $500,000 bond for the murder charge and a total of $40,000 in bonds on two counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle and a count of aggravated robbery.
