Sheriff: Home invasion victim shot 2 gang members dead
NEAR EDINBURG — Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said Monday he does not expect to file charges against an unidentified individual who reportedly shot two armed gang members during a home invasion Saturday.
Jovanny Torres, 20, and his brother Ken Llanes Torres, 21, are confirmed members of the Valluco gang, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. And they had died of gunshot wounds by the time deputies responded to reports of shots fired and a man down about 2 a.m. Saturday at a residence in the 5200 block of Nicole St.
Deputies found the body of Jovanny Torres lying in the front yard and shot multiple times, while Ken Llanes Torres’ body was discovered inside the house with one gunshot wound.
Investigators believe the brothers, armed with handguns, kicked in the front door and assaulted four residents, one of whom reportedly shot at them with a handgun kept on the premises for protection.
Treviño said he would not identify who killed the suspects out of concerns for the individual’s safety.
“I do not want to set up the particular family member for retaliation attacks by the Valluco gang,” Treviño said in the release. “The residents were being attacked with a display of deadly force and they responded in kind.”
Explaining he does not expect charges to be filed against any of the victims, the sheriff stated he will still be turning over evidence, statements and autopsy results to the District Attorney’s Office for a grand jury review.
The residents, aged 19 to 48, reportedly suffered no injuries more serious than cuts, lacerations and a hand fracture.
Treviño said none of the victims had criminal records and no drugs were found at the home.
But he said both suspects had “extensive” serious criminal records, though public records show Jovanny Torres has only pleaded guilty twice to possession of marijuana.
His elder brother, however, has pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, theft, failure to identify a fugitive and evading arrest, each of which was filed as a misdemeanor charge, according to public records.
Investigators reported as stolen the gun of one of the brothers — a .380-caliber Walther PPK pistol — to the San Juan Police Department. But Treviño said his office had still not determined if other Valluco gang members were involved in the incident, how the Torres brothers got to the home and what motive they had to attack the victims.
Residents near the scene of the homicides told The Monitor on Saturday that they had grown uneasy after the family of four moved into the neighborhood about two weeks ago.
“I didn’t get the family atmosphere from them,” said Roberto Molina, 28, who has lived nearby for two years. “There were mostly men at the house, and the vehicles they parked there didn’t really fit with the neighborhood.”
Molina said the working-class neighborhood is an odd place to find late model SUVs and luxury vehicles, which he often saw parked there.
Another neighbor, Margarito Torres, 71, said the block had been pretty quiet for years.
“This is a very quiet neighborhood,” he said in Spanish. “They had just moved here, they didn’t feel right, and then this happens.
“This makes you think and worry.”
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Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4472.
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Monitor staff writer Ildefonso Ortiz contributed to this story.
