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The two men accused of the fatal shooting of San Benito Lt. Milton Resendez in October pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to an indictment charging them with capital murder of a peace officer and six counts of attempted capital murder of a peace officer.
Rodrigo Axel Espinoza Valdez, 23, a Mexican national, and 18-year-old Brownsville resident Rogelio Martinez have remained in custody since a massive manhunt after Resendez’s Oct. 17 death.
Espinosa Valdez is also charged with evading arrest and Martinez faces an additional charge of having a prohibited weapon, namely a machine gun.
Court records indicate more charges against the men are pending.
Resendez died after an hours-long chase that started at around 4:30 p.m. on South Padre Island, a chase where two women, including Martinez’s sister, and children were in the vehicle.
The chase then went to Brownsville where there was a gunfire exchange. Police there stopped shooting out of concern for residents.
At around 10:30 p.m., authorities spotted the men in another vehicle and the chase headed into San Benito where Resendez was shot and killed.
The pursuit then headed back to Brownsville where the suspects were arrested on International Boulevard.
Cameron County prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will seek the death penalty if the men are convicted.
Both men remain jailed in the Cameron County Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center.
