Police in Pharr, which is located in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, announced this week the arrests of 18-year-old Alejandro Trevino, 17-year-old Christian Trevino, and 18-year-old Juan Eduardo Melendez. The town's police chief, Andy Harvey, identified Alejandro and Christian as stepsons of Gabriel Quintanilla, whose body was found in an open field by a farmer on Jan. 20.
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According to Harvey, Quintanilla had been in a national database since 2019 after another minor claimed he had sexually abused her between 2014 and 2016. Quintanilla has been on the run from authorities ever since, until his body was found.
Harvey said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon, "The detectives went out to look for Quintanilla at that time and were unable to find him. They searched. They went to his last known residence. They went to his mother's residence multiple times."
KRGV reports that police said the teen suspects beat Quintanilla to death after hearing he had allegedly abused their 9-year-old family member.
Christian and Juan are being charged with capital murder, while all three teens are being charged with aggravated assault family violence and engaging in organized criminal activity, police previously told KRGV.
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"Capital murder because Quintanilla was kidnapped when he was taken in the back of the F-150 and dropped off somewhere else, so he was kidnapped and then at the scene where they dropped him off the Trevino's they got some property, stole some property from Quintanilla," said Harvey.
When asked about the possible involvement of the boys' mother Harvey said, "That's still all part of the open investigation and that's certainly a question that we had. Why we weren't notified and that kind of thing so there's more questions out there and that's something that we're still looking into."
As of Tuesday night, no charges have been filed against the mother. The three teens remain in Hidalgo County Jail.
This is an ongoing investigation.