Post by Scumhunter on Jun 18, 2019 11:38:39 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: Fox 7 Austin website)
From kxan.com (NBC Austin):
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 20-year-old man wanted in connection with the death of his boyfriend after his body was found with gunshot wounds on the side of the road near the Onion Creek Greenbelt Sunday evening has fled to Mexico, according to Austin police.
Juan Zapata, 38, was found dead by a person walking their dog along Onion Creek Drive near Springville Lane Sunday evening.
Zapata managed a restaurant called Catedral del Marisco. An employee at the restaurant called authorities Sunday morning asking that a welfare check be performed after he didn’t show up for work, court documents reveal. When he wasn’t found at his home, he was reported missing.
A witness told police Zapata and his 20-year-old boyfriend, Juan Eduardo Rendon, had been arguing the day before and that Zapata told her he had locked Rendon out of the house. According to police, Rendon had moved into the house about a month ago.
The witness told police she “expressed concern as Rendon had previously threatened to kill Zapata if he had ever tried leaving him,” officials wrote. She also told police she’d seen Rendon pick Zapata up from work the night before and that was the last time she’d heard from Zapata.
As Zapata’s friends and family searched for him, investigators learned his cousin tried to reach Rendon. When he wouldn’t respond to calls, the relative told investigators she texted him to let him know Zapata was missing and Rendon’s contact information had been given to police. Rendon allegedly responded to the text to say he hadn’t heard from Zapata “in quite some time.”
Zapata’s cousin also told police that she found what looked like blood in the trunk of Zapata’s car, which was parked outside his empty home. She feared foul play. She also told police Zapata had previously told her “Rendon was quite capable of killing him and remarked that she needed to look for his body should he come up missing.”
When police reached out to Rendon’s father, he told them his son had unexpectedly shown up at his home at 1 a.m. Sunday, stayed for a few minutes and left.
Hours later, Zapata’s body was discovered with gunshot wounds. He was wearing a shirt embroidered with the name of the restaurant he worked, along with his name and position. A post-mortem autopsy determined Zapata had died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. After conducting a search of Zapata’s home, investigators concluded he never made it home Saturday night after being picked up from work.
According to an APD briefing Tuesday, early on in their relationship Zapata had purchased a gun for Rendon. It is unknown whether or not this was the murder weapon. In a police search of the victim’s home, officials did not find a gun.
Rendon was charged with first-degree felony murder Monday and his bond has been set at $100,000. According to a press release from Austin Police Homicide Unit Wednesday, Rendon has fled to Mexico. APD is in the process of obtaining a provisional arrest warrant.
Grieving family: “We all loved him”
Zapata’s cousin Margarita Alejo said, “He was always a joy. He would lift me up when I was sad. He had a way to make you smile.”
Alejo said her heart dropped when no one could get in touch with Zapata. She knew something was wrong because she remembered what Zapata had told her before.
“I would tell him to leave him. You do not deserve all this bad treatment,” she said. “I told him to go to police because a person that holds a gun to your head has no good intentions.”
Zapata’s loved ones said he worked at Catedral Del Marisco for 12 years. He managed its East Cesar Chavez Street and Anderson Lane locations.
Employees told KXAN Zapata was a hard worker and never missed a day.
The restaurants are raising money to help pay for Zapata’s funeral. His friends have also set up a Go Fund Me page.
His cousin, Alejo, hopes police will find their suspect soon.
“I want him to pay for what he did,” she said. “He should be in jail for life, and that would be sufficient for my family.”
www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/apd-man-wanted-in-connection-with-boyfriends-death-fled-to-mexico/
Thoughts? I am assuming Rendon is still at large as of this posting date (June 18th, 2019) since the above article is from a few months ago and I've seen no new articles since.
Also most articles just state to call 911 if you know Rendon's whereabouts so I'm not going to list a contact point although I'm assuming contacting your local police or crime stoppers line or the U.S. Marshals since they are handling the case according to articles can also be avenues to explore.
And also us posters are mature enough but once again I want to stress this isn't about a gay couple or an older man dating a younger man (the only thing about Rendon's orientation is it may help tip-wise as far as places he may hang out, dating apps he may use etc... otherwise we don't sensationalize cases)- this is about alleged domestic violence and Rendon allegedly murdering someone because he couldn't take no for an answer. This is in my opinion a very dangerous man based on the allegations regardless of whether he's in Mexico or elsewhere. Juan Zapata sounded like a great man who didn't deserve what happened to him and deserved a better partner.
Hopefully the tracking of Rendon is going well enough. But if not, hopefully our forum can help a little bit in getting a bit more readers to learn about the case and get justice for Juan Zapata.
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