3 Texas Teens Beat Stepfather To Death For Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Half Sister

2023-01-28 08:32:50 Written by Alex

Alejandro Trevino, 18, and Christian Trevino, 17, along with family friend Juan Eduardo Melendez, 18, are accused of beating 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla and leaving him to die in a field in McAllen where his body was discovered by a farmer. The trio is currently being held in custody while awaiting indictment for the alleged murder of 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla. Hidalgo County court records show there have been updates on some of the charges and bond amounts for Melendez and the Trevino brothers.

 
Court records indicate that Juan Eduardo Melendez, one of the three teenagers accused of beating 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla to death in January 2022,  faces additional charges of smuggling of persons in addition to his previous charges of organized criminal activity, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of marijuana.


Furthermore, his murder charge has been upgraded to capital murder and his total bond amount now exceeds $1.5 million. Similarly, Christian Trevino's original charges of aggravated assault, murder, and engaging in organized criminal activity have been upgraded to capital murder, and his total bond amount has been reduced to $150,000. Harvey said the decision for the capital murder charge, as opposed to just a regular murder charge, was due to the fact that Quintanilla was kidnapped and he also had his jewelry stolen before he was dumped in the field.

Alejandro has not had any changes to his charges, which are engaging in organized criminal activity and aggravated assault, but his bond also appears to have been lowered, based on court records, from $1 million to $150,000.


During a press conference in January 2022, it was revealed that Alejandro Trevino, Christian Trevino, and Juan Eduardo Melendez, were accused of repeatedly beating 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla, over the course of one night, after the Trevino brothers' younger half-sister reported that Quintanilla had inappropriately touched her at an RV park. Quintanilla was the stepfather of Alejandro and Christian and the biological father of the 9-year-old girl.
According to a statement from the Pharr Police Department, when Alejandro and Christian Trevino learned of the allegations against Gabriel Quintanilla, they confronted him at the residence, which led to a physical altercation between the three men. Quintanilla later left the location on foot. At a press conference, it was further explained that Christian Trevino followed Quintanilla down the street and another fight broke out, during which Christian is alleged to have been in possession of brass knuckles.


Harvey said Alejandro and Melendez then drove up to the fight, got out of their vehicle, and began assaulting Quintanilla as well.

“So there’s three against one,” Harvey said. After that, the three teens left in the vehicle dropped Alejandro off at the RV park and Christian and Melendez went to Melendez’s house to exchange vehicles.
“They picked up a white F-150 and they decide to go back and look for Quintanilla to see if they can find him again. Well, they did,” Harvey said.

A third assault occurred after Christian and Melendez found Quintanilla and Harvey said that the attack left Quintanilla “unconscious or close to it.”

“They then decide to pick him up, abducted him, put him in the back of the F-150, in the bed and drive off to somewhere in south McAllen,” Harvey said.
According to the police, it is believed that Gabriel Quintanilla died after being left in a field. His body was found by a farmer. Furthermore, during the investigation of his murder, the Pharr police also discovered that Quintanilla had an outstanding warrant for continuous sexual abuse of a child and assault family violence at the time of his death.

gabriel quintanilla


That warrant involved an unrelated case with a different victim that Harvey said Pharr police were made aware of in May of 2019.
According to Harvey, the victim in the unrelated case of sexual abuse and assault family violence had allegedly been victimized between 2014 and 2016. The police had gathered enough evidence to obtain a warrant for Quintanilla's arrest but were unable to locate him as he was evasive and went into hiding.


The Pharr police had no previous knowledge of any history of abuse between Gabriel Quintanilla and his biological daughter. Harvey said that this is an ongoing investigation. Currently, no charges have been filed against the mother of the 9-year-old girl. Harvey also added in the press conference that detectives are still investigating whether or not she had knowledge of the alleged abuse her daughter faced.