AUSTIN (KXAN) — Law enforcement arrested a man in Manor on March 13 related to a December 2024 murder that occurred in southeast Austin.
According to the Austin Police Department, 26-year-old Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Gomez was arrested in the 15200 block of Sparks Run Road and charged with first-degree murder.
The charge was related to the death of 34-year-old Mario Damian-Rayas, who was shot while inside a vehicle in a parking lot in the 2500 block of Huntwick Road.
Rodriguez-Gomez’s attorney, Rhett Braniff, told KXAN it was reviewing the charges against him and that “he denies these allegations.”
The minimal information provided in the Probable Cause Affidavit will be scrutinized by our own independent ballistics experts and investigators. We intend to investigate and rigorously challenge the NIBIN hit, the surveillance video identification by an unknown witness, and any other evidence the State provides through discovery.
Our investigation is just beginning, and we are confident that we will be able to show the insufficiencies of the State’s case when the time comes.
Rhett Braniff, Rodriguez-Gomez’s attorney
APD said a murder warrant for Rodriguez-Gomez was issued Feb. 16, and he was booked into the Travis County jail March 14.
According to Travis County jail records, Rodriguez-Gomez remained in custody as of Wednesday on a $1 million bond for the murder charge.
APD said Rodriguez-Gomez was also arrested on two outstanding warrants for deadly conduct from the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office.
According to APD, the U.S. Marshal Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force assisted with Rodriguez-Gomez’s arrest.
During his arrest, the U.S. Marshals Service said Rodriguez-Gomez “fled on foot into a wooded area and was arrested by a swarm of task force officers.”
The service also said Rodriguez-Gomez was an “undocumented immigrant from Mexico with no legal status in the United States.”
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