SAN ANTONIO – A 13-year-old boy accused of planning a mass attack at Rhodes Middle School earlier this year will remain in custody, a Bexar County judge ruled Thursday — despite a plea from the teenager’s grandmother to release him into her care.
Speaking through a translator, the teen’s grandmother told the court she believes the child was manipulated and abused while living with his mother, Ashley Pardo, who is also facing charges in connection with the case.
“I’m asking for protection for the child,” the teen’s grandmother said. “That the mom would stay away from him because all the problem is the mom.”
The teen was arrested in May after San Antonio police said he showed up to Rhodes Middle School campus wearing a mask, camouflage jacket and tactical pants. While he was initially taken into custody on a terrorism charge, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office has only formally charged him with possession of a prohibited weapon.
Newly released court documents have also shed light on the teen’s criminal history. The state’s Fourth Court of Appeals ruled recently that he must face a retrial in a 2023 arson case that ended in a mistrial in 2024.
According to the opinion, the teen — who was 11 years old at the time — is accused of setting fire to dumpsters at the Barcelo Apartment complex near the Interstate 10-Loop 410 interchange.
Investigators also found a second fire at a maintenance building next door. Surveillance footage reportedly captured the teen entering the building shortly before smoke was seen coming from it.
A friend of the boy testified during the earlier trial that the teen admitted to setting the fires, allegedly saying, “You know the apartments over there? Well, I burned them down.”
The teen’s next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 7.
As for Pardo, she remains out on bond awaiting indictment. No future hearings have been set in her case.
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