SAN ANTONIO – A teenager is in jail on a capital murder charge following the shooting death of a 2-year-old girl but the man San Antonio police believe orchestrated the entire thing is still under investigation and has not been arrested.
Derrain Turner, 17, was arrested Thursday night following a deadly drive-by shooting on May 8 in the 100 block of Future Drive, not far from West Avenue.
San Antonio Police Department spokesperson Michelle Ramos said during a press conference Thursday evening that Turner is believed to have been a passenger in a stolen vehicle that drove by the victim’s home and fired multiple rounds, striking and killing two-year-old Mackenzie Hernandez Garcia.
Hernandez Garcia was shot twice, officials said.
SAPD Chief William McManus previously said five other children, between 2 and 6 years old, were inside the home at the time of the shooting.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the intended target was the son of the homeowner who recently broke up with his girlfriend.
Police believe the shooting was orchestrated by a relative of that ex-girlfriend identified as 37-year-old Anthony Arizmendez.
SAPD wouldn’t provide his name as it relates to this case because he has not been arrested on charges related to the drive-by shooting.
Arizmendez was not mentioned by name in Turner’s arrest warrant affidavit, but the affidavit referenced Arizmendez’s arrest on an unrelated warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Police said they believe Arizmendez asked Turner and a juvenile suspect to “do a drive-by shooting... in retaliation for a disturbance” between his family member and her ex-boyfriend, the affidavit states.
The ex-boyfriend told police that Arizmendez had previously made threats against him.
According to the affidavit, on May 10, during Arizmendez’s arrest on unrelated charges, he asked to speak with police about the drive-by shooting on Future Drive.
He told officers during the interview at police headquarters that Turner and the juvenile suspect were the people involved in the deadly shooting on May 8 but denied that he was involved.
Arizmendez said Turner and the other suspect arrived at his home in a black Chevrolet Silverado and asked if he wanted to buy the vehicle. Police later determined the truck to be the same one used in the drive-by shooting, which was also reported stolen the day the shooting occurred.
Arizmendez told police he declined to purchase the truck but noted that Turner showed him a .40 caliber Glock handgun while he was at the location. Shell casings at the scene of the drive-by shooting were also .40 caliber casings.
According to the affidavit, Arizmendez also told police Turner and the suspect left his residence and returned a short time later saying the truck was “smoking.” Turner said he let the juvenile suspect drive the truck and that’s when Arizmendez says he told the two to leave.
The day before his arrest on May 9, Arizmendez told police the juvenile suspect returned to his home and started talking about the drive-by shooting. Arizmendez asked what happened and the juvenile told him that Turner shot at the residence on Future Drive, the affidavit states.
Arizmendez told police he then asked the juvenile suspect to leave.
On May 15, police spoke to the juvenile suspect at Public Safety Headquarters with a relative present.
During the interview, the juvenile told police Turner drove to his house in the stolen truck on the day of the shooting and that the two then drove to Arizmendez’s home. He also admitted to going with Turner to the residence on Future Drive and told police that he was driving the truck while Turner fired multiple rounds at the home from the passenger seat.
The juvenile suspect told police that Arizmendez instructed him and Turner to go “shoot up the house.”
A search warrant from the juvenile suspect’s phone revealed a screenshot photo of a mapped route from Arizmendez’s home to the residence on Future Drive. The photo shows directions from “my location” to the home on Future Drive, and further reveals that the screenshot was taken three days prior to the shooting.
Officers with SAPD wrote in the affidavit that based on the information obtained in the investigation, they believe Arizmendez asked Turner and the juvenile suspect to do the drive-by shooting in retaliation for the disturbance between his relative and her ex-boyfriend.
An investigation into Arizmendez is still ongoing and he has not been criminally charged in connection to the deadly drive-by shooting.
Court records show he was released from jail Saturday, June 3 after his bond was reduced from $250,000 to $75,000. He has 30 prior charges in Bexar County dating back to 2003. While several have been dismissed for a range of reasons, others have resulted in prison time. Past charges include burglary, drug possession, theft, felon in possession of a firearm, assault, evading arrest and more.
Court records show Turner was out on bond for three other charges when the deadly drive-by shooting took place, including an unlawful carrying of a weapon charge from a Feb. 17 incident.
Turner was still awaiting a hearing in that case and had not yet been indicted. Typical turnaround times for indictments average around 90 days, and there were roughly 80 days between the first incident and the deadly shooting.
Editor’s note: The video above is from a previous report.