Photo: Hidalgo County Records
Their bonds are millions of dollars.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Jan 25, 2022
Three Texas teenagers — including two brothers — have been arrested and charged with several crimes, including two counts of capital murder and possession of marijuana.
18-year-old Alejandro Trevino, 17-year-old Christian Trevino, and 18-year-old Juan Eduardo Melendez were all arrested in connection with the death of 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla.
Gabriel Quintanilla was accused of sexually abusing the younger sister of two of the suspects.
Quintanilla had a warrant out for his arrest for continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to police, but when they responded to a call around 2:41 p.m. on Thursday in an area south of McAllen, they found his body instead.
Lt. Joel Morales of the McAllen Police Department said Friday that the investigation had been turned over to the Pharr Police Department, where the crimes began.
In a news release, the PPD revealed that the 9-year-old daughter of Quintanilla made an outcry as she was being abused in the 1200 block of East Moore in Pharr.
“When brothers Alexandro and Christian Trevino found out, they became enraged and confronted Gabriel Quintanilla at the residence. A physical fight ensued between the three and the victim Quintanilla left the location on foot,” police said.
However, the assaults didn’t stop there. Christian reportedly chased Quintanilla on foot and found him outside of an apartment complex down the road by Lyndon and Coyote.
At this point, Melendez allegedly got involved, by joining in on the chase in his own car.
“A second assault occurs there when Alexandro Trevino and a driver of a red Dodge Charger, Juan Eduardo Melendez, catch up and join the assault towards the victim,” police said.
After severely beating Quintanilla, they leave the location, switch vehicles to a white Ford F-150, found Quintanilla alone and injured walking along Veterans Road, according to police.
“A third assault occurs and the victim is severely beaten. The victim who is still alive is placed in the bed of the truck and drove off and ended up in the McColl and Whalen Road (area) where the victim was dropped off in an open field and the suspects fled,” police say.
Two out of three of the accused face murder charges.
Deputy Chief Juan Gonzalez announced that Alexandro, one of the brothers, was not being charged with capital murder because it is believed that Christian and Melendez were the ones that inflicted the fatal blow to Quintanilla.
He will, however, be charged with aggravated assault and engaging in organized criminal activity while Christian and Melendez are charged with capital murder, aggravated assault and engaging in organized criminal activity.
Melendez faces a separate, possession of marijuana charge as well.
Alexandro and Christian are both half brothers — having different mothers — and are also half-siblings to Quintanilla’s 9-year-old daughter, making Quintanilla their stepfather.
According to investigators, Quintanilla was severely beaten with brass knuckles and suffered from severe head trauma before being dropped off at the location south of McAllen — claiming he was alive when they dropped him off.
Alexandro is being held on a $1 million bond while his brother, Christian, is being held on a $1.5 million bond, and Melendez has a $1,502,000 bond.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.