EDINBURG, Texas — A man in Edinburg is facing a murder charge after deputies say he fatally shot a man in the face with an AR-style rifle while the two were singing together on camera.
According to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, 32-year-old Freddy Mireles was arrested Monday morning and charged with murder in the death of 26-year-old Julio Cesar Soto Jr., a Mexican national living in the U.S. on a visa. His bond was set at $2.5 million.
Deputies were called to a home on the 4500 block of Fe Drive in rural Edinburg around 9:22 p.m. Sunday, where they found Soto dead on a couch with a gunshot wound to the face.
Sheriff Eddie Guerra said Mireles and Soto arrived at the residence together and were being filmed on a cell phone as they sang. Witnesses told investigators that Mireles suddenly grabbed an AR-style rifle and fired at Soto at close range.
After the shooting, Mireles allegedly fled the scene in his red Corvette, taking the rifle with him. He was later located and taken into custody without incident.
Authorities seized the cell phone video and weapon as evidence in the case.