Three teenagers and a juvenile accused of shooting a 53-year-old man to death last week in McAllen told police the alleged murder happened while they were attempting to commit burglaries, according to probable cause affidavits.
Amador Sandoval IV, 17, Sandra Edith Morales, 18, both of McAllen, and 18-year-old Mission resident Carlos Gustavo Macias-Mora are all charged with murder for the death of 53-year-old McAllen resident Rosendo Benitez, who had been shot multiple times, police said in the affidavits.
The juvenile is also charged with murder and was taken to a juvenile detention center.
The shooting occurred at around 11 p.m. on Jan. 27 in the 1600 block of North 29th Street.
“Through the investigation, it was discovered that a male victim had been shot multiple times and later expired,” the affidavit stated.
The suspect vehicle in the shooting was a 2018 Ford Fusion, which had been stolen out of Mission.
Police first detained Macias, who is charged with stealing that vehicle, and during an interview, detectives said he implicated Morales and the male juvenile.
“Detectives later located Sandra and two males,” the affidavit stated.
During an interview, investigators say she implicated herself, Macias, the male juvenile and Sandoval as being involved in the alleged murder.
“Sandra provided details to the Murder that would only (have) been known by someone who was directly involved in the case,” the affidavit stated.
Investigators say in that document that Sandoval also implicated his co-suspects and corroborated statements Macias and Morales made about Benitez’s death.
“Amador claimed that the four of them were in the vehicle attempting to commit burglaries when the Murder happened,” the affidavit stated.
Detectives corroborated their stories with a cellphone extraction of Macias’ phone and surveillance video from a convenience store, according to police.
During the course of the investigation, Mission police informed McAllen police that on Jan. 27, the day of the shooting, the Ford Fusion had been stolen at approximately 7 a.m.
Macias was arrested at his Mission residence in the 200 block of Rio Street and the Ford Fusion was found in close proximity, according to the affidavit, which said a search warrant was executed on the residence.
“A handgun and ammunition was located inside the residence. The handgun caliber and ammunition matched the spent casings found at the crime scene. A key fob that belonged to the stolen Ford Fusion was also located inside the residence,” the affidavit states.
In addition to the Ford Fusion, Macias is accused of stealing a 2016 Buick LaCrosse that same day.
He faces two counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in addition to the murder charge and remains in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a total of $770,000 in bonds.
Sandoval also faces an additional charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and remains jailed on a $250,000 bond over the murder charge. A bond hasn’t been set on the other charge.
Morales remains in jail on a $250,000 bond on the murder charge.
