SAN ANTONIO — Two suspects have been arrested in connection to the September death of 16-year-old Sabstein Diaz.
Diaz was shot and killed while sitting in what San Antonio police say was a stolen vehicle on September 4 at The Estates at Northwest Henderson Pass.
At the time of Diaz's death, San Antonio Police requested the public's help in identifying persons of interest.
Since then, Julian Vera, 20, and Mario Duarte, 17, have been arrested and charged with murder.
As you'll recall, San Antonio Police were called to The Estates of Northwoods in the 17600 block of Henderson Pass in response to a shooting around 9:30 p.m. on September 4.
At the scene, officers found a stolen white Chevy Suburban with bullet holes and a teenager with multiple gunshot wounds. The teen, who was later identified as Diaz, was pronounced dead at the scene.
An official with SAPD said that there was a group of four men in the white Suburban sitting at the front of the apartment complex when another vehicle pulled up. Two men got out, started arguing with the people inside the Suburban, and then opened fire, police said.
The driver of the Suburban was hit multiple times. All of the passengers inside the vehicle were in their teens, early 20s, police said.
According to court records, following SAPD's request for the public's assistance, an investigator received a phone call from NEISD's police department--- a school staff member saw the report on the news and recognized one of the suspects as former student, Mario Duarte.
Following the identification of Duarte, investigators interviewed one of the passengers in the victim's SUV who said that Diaz had driven to the complex after being directed to the location by some unknown person through a social media app; the passenger said that Diaz was going to sell THC cartridges.
The passenger told police that when they arrived at the location, two unknown men approached the car. The two men spoke with Diaz about paying for the cartridges using a "phone pay" app. After Diaz agreed, the two men pulled out guns and began shooting at the vehicle before running away.
When the passenger realized Diaz had been shot, he told police that he panicked, and also began to run away. He told officers that he didn't know who the suspects were but suggested they look into the victim's phone since he was using Snapchat to communicate with the alleged purchaser.
After looking through the victim's phone which has a Snapchat application open and running at the time of the incident, investigators discovered Diaz's messages with Julian Vera.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Vera was out on bond after being arrested for a similar aggravated robbery in which he, Duarte, and two others used Snpahcat to contact a victim to purchase THC cartridges and then robbed the victim at gunpoint. Duarte was also out on bond for a similar robbery from early November.
On December 4, investigators interviewed Vera who admitted to being involved in Diaz's murder. Vera then confirmed that a photo SAPD released to the media was of him and Mario Duarte.
Vera said that while he and Duarte were talking to Diaz about paying for the cartridges via the "phone pay" app, Diaz "all of a sudden" put the car in reverse and began backing up. Vera said that "he feared for his life and both he and Duarte began firing at the vehicle.
When investigators asked what Vera was afraid of, Vera said that Diaz was "'backing up so he could shoot us.'" Although he never saw a weapon inside the vehicle and was not threatened by any of the occupants, Vera insisted he fired in self-defense.