SAN ANTONIO — Nearly four months after a 15-year-old was shot and killed, San Antonio Police arrest a 17-year-old they believe is the shooter.
On May 16, officers responded to a shooting off the 2100 block of Alston Street on the city’s northwest side. When officers arrived, they found Ethan Soto lying in a pool of blood, shot multiple times.
On Wednesday, police arrested Victor Rivas and charged him with murder.
According to an arrest affidavit, deleted messages on Instagram helped crack the case, and outlined how Rivas planned the ambush killing of Soto.
Detectives believe that Rivas got a juvenile girl to lure Soto into selling her drugs, and when the alleged deal was about to go down, it was Rivas who was waiting for Soto.
Police say they later figured out that the brazen murder was in retaliation after Soto had stolen drugs from Rivas the day before.
Investigators said they got a warrant for Rivas’ Instagram account and found messages from Rivas to another user, saying he was going to “catch” the person who robbed him.
According to police documents, detectives discovered other messages from Rivas, telling another user an hour after the shooting that he had to “ditch the car.”
Two hours after the shooting, police said, Rivas reported his car had been stolen.
Through other messages on Rivas’ Instagram account, investigators discovered that he had purchased a semi-automatic gun from another Instagram user, and then posted photos of the gun on his account.
Detectives believe that Rivas got the girl to lure Soto away from his house, waited for him to leave, and then shot the 15-year-old.
It’s unclear what charges the other teen will face though police are calling her an accomplice.
Rivas was arrested on murder charges, his bond set at $200,000.