MCALLEN – The charges against a Honduran national in the country illegally were upgraded after he was accused of beating a Rio Grande Valley veteran into a coma.

McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said the charges against Andres Roberto Ortiz are upgraded to capital murder.

Ortiz was previously charged with aggravated robbery.

Investigators said he severely beat 56-year-old Jose Luis Oviedo before stealing his car back in January. The car was later found crashed into a ditch in front of P.F. Chang's.

Oviedo was in the U.S. Navy for 15 years and served in Operation Desert Storm.

He died last week.