SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police have arrested two teenagers accused of gunning down a local nursing student during a botched robbery on the Northwest Side earlier this year.
Derrick Sentmore, 17, and Kevin Luna, 18, both face a capital murder charge in the Jan. 3 shooting of Patrick Zavala, 27. Sentmore was arrested Tuesday and Luna on Wednesday, said SAPD spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez.
Luna mumbled “I’m innocent” but otherwise stayed mostly silent in front of reporters as police escorted him to the the Bexar County Jail on Wednesday afternoon.
An arrest warrant affidavit alleges the pair shot Zavala while he was in his truck in a parking lot in the 6700 block of Ingram Road, near Loop 410. Zavala then crashed into a concrete wall, and police say Luna and Sentmore ran off with Zavala’s phone.
Zavala was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
His family found some relief Wednesday knowing that his suspected killers had been caught.
“I know they’re not going to pay what we’re going through. But at least we’re relieved that he’s going to get justice for his murder. And I want them to get punished for that,” said his sister, Olivia Maldonado.
But the bitter frustration with Zavala’s death is still close to the surface.
“I mean, you didn’t do nothing but take his life and his phone,” said his best friend, Isabel Aldaba. “Nothing came out of it. Nothing.”
Rodriguez said it is unclear why Zavala and the suspects met up, and she did not believe Zavala had known the pair prior to this incident.
At some point, the suspects got into Zavala’s car and attempted to rob him, shooting him once, police say. Detectives do not know which teen pulled the trigger, Rodriguez said.
The affidavit states that surveillance video showed two males exit Zavala’s vehicle after the crash.
In audio from the video, one of them said that they left some property on the floorboard. They didn’t go back to the vehicle but instead jumped a fence and left the location, according to the affidavit.
Investigators processed the fingerprints on those items and they were found to belong to Luna, according to the affidavit. Fingerprints were also found in a fence area nearby, Rodriguez said.
In a search of his social media accounts, police revealed that Luna, a documented runaway, stated he shot a man in the chest and said the situation “went wrong,” investigators said.
Data from Jan. 3 shows that Luna was at an apartment where Zavala’s cellphone pinged.
Police later identified Sentmore as the second suspect after someone reported his possible involvement, the affidavit states.
No further arrests are expected, Rodriguez said, but the investigation is ongoing.
Zavala’s family told KSAT that he was going to San Antonio College to one day become a nurse and he was scheduled to graduate in April.
His mother, Olga Paulino, made an emotional plea Wednesday for gun control.
“Please, go to the government. Go to the White House. Please take all the guns away because they’re killing innocent people,” Paulino told KSAT through sobs. “They killed my baby. And who is going to give him back to me? Nobody.”
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