Police arrest teen in connection with Elsa homicide

ELSA — Police have arrested a 16-year-old in connection with the shooting death of a man Saturday afternoon.

The shooting happened about 4 p.m. near the intersection of Highway 107 and Hidalgo Street, said Elsa Police Chief Mario Cavazos.

The victim’s relatives told police the teen was making sexual advances toward the man’s daughter at the father’s home on the 200 block of West Sixth Street, Cavazos said. The father told the boy to leave, and the teen responded by brandishing a handgun.

The victim, Rene Garcia, 43, became angry and chased off the teenager, Cavazos said. But as the boy sped away, Garcia drove after him and rammed the back of his vehicle. The father then walked toward the suspect’s vehicle with a baseball bat in hand.

“He hit the suspect’s vehicle and got through to the driver’s-side window,” the chief said.

Witnesses told police the teen shot Garcia, who later died at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco. The teen was taken to the county’s juvenile detention center, where he will face murder charges.

Officials declined to identify the suspect.

The slaying is Elsa’s first new homicide case this year. Local law enforcement agencies in Hidalgo County have now investigated at least 28 new homicides so far in 2009.

____

Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.