x

Two men charged in drive-by shooting death of 6-year-old girl near Mission

Related Story

Two men have been charged in connection with the drive-by shooting death of a 6-year-old girl near the city of Mission.

Marco Antonio Chairez, 42, of Alton and Daniel Guzman Flores, 43, of Mission were charged with capital murder on Thursday.

Bond was set at $1 million each. 

The shooting occurred Tuesday afternoon on the 2400 block of Valencia Avenue outside of Mission city limits.

At about 5 p.m., deputies responded to the scene where they discovered a deceased 6-year-old girl, according to the arrest affidavit against the men.

"…Several vehicles drove up to the residence and opened fire, striking the 6-year-old female child," the affidavit reads.

The girl was watching TV in a bedroom when she was struck by gunfire, Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said Thursday during a press conference. The projectile went through two walls and struck her in the head. She died instantly, Guerra said. 

Investigators identified Flores as a suspect through surveillance video from neighbors' houses and transported him to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office for questioning, where he “confessed to knowingly and intentionally taking part of the drive by shooting,” according to the affidavit. Flores also admitted to seeing Chairez "exit the vehicle and shoot at the residence with a firearm," the affidavit stated.

A secondary witness told investigators that Chairez “told her he had shot at a residence on Valencia Avenue. Marco stated there were several males with him in separate vehicles,” according to the affidavit.

Investigators believe the shooting was a result of a dispute between neighbors, and are searching for other suspects and suspect vehicles involved in the deadly shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call the HCSO Criminal Investigations Division at 956-383-8114 or the anonymous Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers hotline at 956-668-8477. 

If your information leads to an arrest, you may receive a cash award of up to $1,000. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout. 

Related Images

News

Radar
7 Days