The Texas Rangers are investigating after a 39-year-old man died while in custody after deputies with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic dispute in Monte Alto, according to a news release. 

Deputies responded to a report of a man choking his 18-month-old son inside a vehicle at the 24000 block of Beach Street in Monte Alto Friday at 2:10 a.m. At the scene, deputies found Guillermo Rojas “highly intoxicated” and standing in his driveway, bleeding.

According to the news release, witnesses said Rojas’ stepson hit him on the head with a metal pipe wrench after the man attacked the toddler. 

A taser was used to detain Rojas prior to placing him in handcuffs and shackles, according to the news release. Paramedics who arrived at the scene said Rojas was unresponsive. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Witnesses told investigators Rojas had grabbed his 18-month-old son from inside the residence and began squeezing the toddler from inside his truck after locking the doors, the news release stated.

Family members broke the window of the truck and took the child from Rojas. Rojas then followed family members back inside the residence and “laid on top of the child.”

“Rojas’s stepson felt his brother was in danger and hit Rojas over the head with a metal pipe wrench to get him off the child,” the news release stated. “He was able to get the child away from Rojas and he ran outside to a neighbor's house."

An autopsy was ordered.