EDINBURG — A group of men police said unloaded more than 20 bullets during a fight that left two dead are scheduled to be arraigned for murder this week.
Eduardo Alejandro Cano, 25; Eduardo Casares, 22; Fernando Casares, 20; and Jordan Jovvany Garces, 19, all of Progreso, are scheduled to appear before Judge Israel Ramon, of the 430th state District Court, Monday morning for their formal arraignment on murder charges, according to court records.
The four are being charged with murder in connection with an incident March 25 at about 4 a.m. in the 600 block of Martinez Street in Progreso after two men were shot to death.
They are expected to enter into the record how they wish to plead to the charges.
Police said Eduardo Casares, Fernando Casares, Juan Gerardo Casares and Garces, who were inside a white passenger car, approached Cano, his father Jose De Jesus Cano and a third unidentified man at a residence on Martinez Street.
Authorities said the house is known to law enforcement for selling street-level drugs and sometimes alcohol.
Soon after officials said a physical fight erupted between the men stemming from an unknown ongoing feud — that led to two handguns being drawn, then gunshots — in total 21 shots rang out in the Progreso neighborhood, leaving Cano’s father and one of the Casares’ brothers, Juan Gerardo Casares, dead.
A third man, who has not been identified but believed to be the impetus for the fight, suffered an injury to one of his legs, and was taken to a local hospital.
During his initial hearing after his arrest in late March, Cano asked the justice of the peace why he was being charged with murder; and claimed he was acting in self-defense after his father was shot in front of him.
The group each had murder indictments handed down on earlier this month, after the state presented evidence to a grand jury, court records show.
If convicted of the first-degree charge all four men face life in prison.
