Jose Gregorio Blanco Moreno, 21, was arrested Aug. 12 and booked into the Harris County Jail, court documents stated.
Deputies say they were called to an apartment on Ella Boulevard near Kuykendahl the afternoon of July 27, where Blanco Moreno was living with four other people.
Investigators say 16-year-old Jhowel Rafael Hernandez Castro, whose cousin is dating Blanco Moreno, was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound.
According to a search warrant Eyewitness News obtained, Blanco Moreno changed his story while speaking with detectives.
First, he claimed he didn't hear the gunshot and was woken up by the victim.
He then claimed that the gunshot woke him up and he rose to find the victim holding his gun.
After waking up a roommate and unsuccessfully performing CPR, Blanco Moreno claimed he unloaded the gun and hid it in a kitchen cabinet.
Investigators say they couldn't find gun residue on the victim's body and determined he had been shot at long range.
"The angle of the bullet made it essentially impossible for the person to have shot himself," a hearing officer said at Blanco Moreno's probable cause hearing on Aug. 13.
ICE confirms that Blanco Moreno is a Venezuelan national who is in the U.S. illegally.
They say he was arrested by Border Patrol in Dec. 2023 but then released with a notice to appear in immigration court.
ICE says Blanco Moreno never appeared and that a judge ordered his removal in May 2024.
He wasn't apprehended until his arrest on the murder charge on Aug. 12.
ICE has placed a hold on Blanco Moreno, meaning that should he ever be released from jail, he'll be taken into ICE's custody.