AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two people were arrested and charged with capital murder after their alleged involvement in a homicide that happened earlier this month in north Austin, according to Travis County court documents.
Those arrested were identified in court records as 22-year-old Alejandro Hurtado Reyes and 29-year-old Yanaris Reyes. Both suspects were taken into custody on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Yanaris Reyes and Alejandro Hurtado Reyes were both booked into the Travis County jail on a $200,000 bond.
KXAN has reached out to both Yanaris Reyes and Alejandro Hurtado Reyes’ attorneys for a statement, and we will update this if they are received.
What led to the homicide
The details began to unfold Aug. 3 around 2:40 a.m. when a 911 call was made for a report of a man who was shot near the La Michoacana Market at 9811 N. Interstate 35 service road northbound. Court documents identified that man as 49-year-old Miguel Mondragon.
When Austin police officers arrived on the scene, they found Mondragon in a “grassy area between the highway and the front of the market with obvious trauma.” He was pronounced dead at 3:25 a.m., according to the affidavit.
An autopsy conducted the next day revealed “Mondragon had an apparent gunshot to his right thigh,” court records said.
Two other men were with Mondragon at a nearby sports bar, located in the 9600 block of I-35 service road northbound. Then, all three men left the bar together and drove “the short distance to the Michoacana Market, where they were attempting to cut through the parking lot so they could travel southbound on Middle Fiskville Road.”
Then, the men told police investigators that a grey sedan blocked them, and then “they saw several people exit the cars, all wearing masks and brandishing guns.” Surveillance footage from the business showed that the grey sedan and a white Dodge Durango pulled in behind the pickup truck.
Both men said they don’t know why, but Mondragon got out of the vehicle and ran away from the scene. That is when both men heard “multiple gunshots and then drove away, breaking through a rear gate, as they immediately called 911.” Court records said they then drove to a “safer location.”
Surveillance video also showed Mondragon stop at the back of the truck while standing next to someone before he later fell to the ground, according to the affidavit.
Police confirmed that Mondragon’s watch, cellphone and cash were taken from him after he was shot, according to the affidavit.
After the shooting, both the sedan and Dodge Durango drove away from the area, court records said.
Tracking down the suspects
Police investigators reviewed surveillance video at the sports bar and confirmed one of the suspects, later identified as Yanaris Reyes, was the driver of the sedan. She was seen on surveillance footage at the sports bar, according to the affidavit.
Employees with the sports bar confirmed that Yanaris Reyes used to work there, but was “recently fired for stealing cash and wallets from customers.” They also confirmed she drove the Dodge Durango, which belonged to her boyfriend, Alejandro Hurtado Reyes, court records said.
Once investigators were able to confirm that Alejandro Hurtado Reyes was the owner of the Dodge Durango, they then obtained warrants for both his and Yanaris Reyes’ cellphone data. That data revealed they were both in the area of the homicide when it happened, according to the affidavit.