Group kills man inside San Juan home; 2 arrested

SAN JUAN — Several hitmen killed a 21-year-old man in front of his wife and young son during an apparent drug-related home invasion Wednesday, police said.

At least three men barged into the home of Roberto “Bobby” Hinojosa, 21, about 1 a.m., looking for several pounds of marijuana police later found inside.

San Juan police responded to the scene on the 2000 block of Sunset Drive shortly after the shooting. Officers arrested two of the alleged hitmen after a chase led to a south Pharr residential neighborhood.

Hinojosa, 21, was in bed with his wife at the time, while their 3-year-old son was watching television in another room, said Lalo Hinojosa, the victim’s 63-year-old father.

When the attackers barged into his bedroom, Roberto Hinojosa got up and was hit at least seven times, before falling into his closet, his father said.

At least one of the gunshots appeared to have gone through the bedroom wall and through the front garage door. The bullet appeared to have come from a 9 mm pistol, investigators said.

Roberto Hinojosa managed to return fire and shot one of the hitmen at least one time. His wife and young sons — a baby boy was asleep in another room, relatives said — suffered no injuries during the attack.

A trail of blood led from the house and north along Sunset Drive, a normally quiet residential neighborhood of recently-built homes on the city’s south side.

Investigators would not say where Hinojosa got the drugs or whether the suspected hitmen were hired by a local street gang or a Mexican drug cartel. More details about the case are expected to be disclosed after each suspect faces capital murder charges at an arraignment scheduled for today.

“This was not a random home invasion,” San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said. “They were targeting the victim.”

But Lalo Hinojosa said he questions police investigators’ notion that his son, who worked for an area used car dealership, was involved in criminal activity.

“I would know, because he’s with me all the time,” he said. “This is going to be very hard for me and my family.”

Investigators continued to remove evidence from the scene late Wednesday morning. Roberto Hinojosa’s wife arrived with relatives, taking several days’ worth of clothes from the house.  As the young woman wept outside, she declined to comment on the slaying.

Lalo Hinojosa said he learned of the attack when a relative called him about 1:30 a.m., telling him to go to his son’s home. While en route, he received another call telling him his son had died.

“It’s the hardest thing to see your son all shot up in that hospital bed,” the 63-year-old said, smoking a cigarette in his driveway Wednesday afternoon. “That will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.