TEMPLE, Texas — A Bell County grand jury indicted three San Angelo men were Wednesday for the 2016 killings of Johnathan Hess and Vicente Hernandez in Temple.
Lupe Martinez Chappa III and Rodrigo Lara Gutierrez were indicted for murder. Justin Lane Slatton Jr. was indicted on capital murder.
According to arrest affidavits, Temple police responded to a shots fired call April 13, 2016. When officers arrived, they found Hess shot several times on the couch inside the residence where the disturbance was reported.
Hess was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hernandez was found on the floor with a large amount of blood around his head. Hernandez was taken to Baylor Scott and White where he later died.
The affidavits said a witness told investigators she was at home with Hess during the shooting. She said she and both victims walked outside, and two unknown suspects walked up to the residence and shot both men. The witness said one suspect then demanded money from her.
The witness described the suspects and a Texas Department of Public Safety sketch artist created two composite sketches.
The sketches showed a young Hispanic male with curly hair, who the witness said shot Hernandez. The second suspect was described as a Hispanic male with unknown tattoos on his neck. The witness said this suspect shot Hess, according to the affidavits.
In a six-person photo line-up, the witness identified Slatton as Hess' shooter. In a separate line-up, she identified Chappa as the one who shot Hernandez.
The witness also identified the suspect vehicle as a black Dodge Charger. A matching vehicle was seen leaving the area of the shooting on surveillance cameras near the crime scene, according to the affidavit.
Stickers seen on the back window of the suspect vehicle matched those on Gutierrez's father's vehicle.
An investigator with the Texas Rangers compared the vehicle's tire treads to impressions found on a Styrofoam cup located in the street where the suspect vehicle was parked during the shooting. The treads and cup were sent to the Texas DPS lab for further testing.
According to an affidavit, search warrants executed on Gutierrez's cellphone data found that the phone had traveled from San Angelo to Temple around the time of the shooting, the affidavit said. Data also showed the phone was returned to San Angelo immediately after the time of the killings.
Slatton is being held in lieu of a $3 million bond. Chappa and Gutteriez's bond amounts are both set at $2 million.