Nearly seven months after the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office arrested a then 17-year-old over allegations of shooting and killing a 19-year-old man by a sugar cane field near Donna, the teenage suspect has been indicted on a murder charge.
A grand jury issued the indictment against Carlos Julian Contreras on Aug. 6.
He’s accused of killing 19-year-old Genero Isaiah “Izzy” Castillo on Jan. 14.
After Contreras’ arrest, Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra told reporters that Contreras admitted to picking Castillo up and driving him to Donna Lakes with someone named George. Investigators determined George doesn’t exist and Guerra has said Contreras is the sole suspect.
“In the immediate area of the crime scene, investigators were able to locate tire tracks, indicating a vehicle had just left the location, and multiple 40-caliber bullet casings,” Guerra said at the time. “Through the course of the investigation, investigators learned that the victim was having issues with a friend named Carlos Julian Contreras, who drove a white Ford truck.”
Investigators say they found a blood-stained napkin in the vehicle along with multiple bullet casings.
A probable cause affidavit for Contreras, who is the son of Alamo’s fire chief and was a high school baseball player from PSJA Memorial, states the teen had been looking for a gun “to ‘take out’ Izzy and Reggie before they took him out.”
Guerra, at the January press conference, said Contreras and Castillo were involved in a criminal enterprise. The sheriff did not elaborate and Contreras’ probable cause affidavits shed no light on that accusation.
The 18-year-old Alamo teen last appeared in court last Monday on an indictment for possession of oxycodone. That indictment alleges Contreras possessed more than 1 but less than 4 grams of the narcotic.
The grand jury indicted him on the murder charge three days later.
As of Monday afternoon, court records did not reflect a scheduled arraignment date.
Contreras remains free on a $200,000 bond.
