SAN ANTONIO – An 18-year-old who was arrested on a murder charge in April is back in custody for violating the conditions of his pretrial release.
Roy Flores was originally arrested in April on a murder charge. He’s accused of shooting 19-year-old Joe Bonilla on Feb. 21 in a Walmart parking lot in the 3300 block of SE Military Drive, not far from Interstate 37.
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Court records show he was released on a $250,000 bond on April 19 before being rearrested Friday for violating the conditions of his bond.
A spokesperson for the Bexar County office of criminal justice confirmed to KSAT that one of Flores’ bond conditions stipulates that he can’t be around weapons but he violated that condition after appearing in a YouTube video with multiple firearms visible.
The spokesperson also noted Flores could have potentially got away with it but part of the video shows his ankle monitor, which has a specific number associated with his name.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Flores met up with the victim to conduct a drug deal.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage of the parking lot on the night of the murder and saw Bonilla’s vehicle pull up next to Flores’s vehicle. Bonilla was then seen getting out of his car and into the back passenger-side seat of Flores’ vehicle.
“Shortly after, a muzzle flash is seen inside the suspect vehicle,” the affidavit states. “The suspect vehicle drives up and another suspect is seen pulling the deceased victim out of the back passenger door. The victim falls to the middle of the parking lot, and one of the suspects enters the front passenger door of the vehicle and they drive off.”
An investigation later revealed that the second suspect is Flores’s cousin, according to police.
During a search of the victim’s vehicle, police discovered his cell phone, which investigators say revealed text messages that indicated Bonilla was going to rob Flores during the drug deal. Text messages also confirmed the time and location of the deal where the victim and Flores met, prior to the shooting.
Shortly after, officers received a call from Wilson County Sheriff’s Office stating that Flores’s vehicle was found abandoned in the county.
SAPD officers obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and discovered blood in the back-passenger seat, rifle shell casings, documents with Flores’s name and a kitchen knife.
Court records show Flores is now being held without bond at Bexar County Jail.