Charges are expected to be upgraded for a Honduran national who allegedly beat a Desert Storm veteran to death in South Texas.

Earlier this month, 32-year-old Andres Roberto Ortiz was taken into custody in McAllen more than a week after fleeing a roll-over accident he’d had in a stolen vehicle.

Law enforcement had located the owner of the vehicle, 56-year-old Jose Luis Oveido, brutally beaten outside of his home in late January.

“Ten days after the incident, police said they connected Ortiz to the crime,” reports KRGV.

Breitbart News has details on the assault: “The victim was at his home when the Honduran illegal immigrant arrived and assaulted him to steal the vehicle. Authorities have been able to determine that Andres Roberto Ortiz had been deported multiple times before being connected to the robbery.”

A GoFundMe account set up before Oveido’s death sheds more light on the deadly attack.

Tragedy struck on Sunday 1/29/2017. He was home alone when he heard a noise in his backyard. He found himself confronted by thieves trying to steal his vehicle. He was beaten unconscious. A few hours later, Local Law Enforcement came to his home after finding his truck abandoned in a ditch. They found him still unconscious in his backyard. Jose Luis has not woken up since. His family is asking for prayers and help for medical expenses.

The Monitor reports Ortiz was almost deported after being pulled over in another traffic stop following the rollover accident:

Days after the Honduran fled the scene of the alleged SUV theft, an undocumented man was pulled over and per McAllen police protocol, was then transferred to Border Patrol because he was undocumented. Then, the man, from Honduras, was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said, for deportation. About an hour before the flight was scheduled to leave last week, McAllen police called, asking ICE to hold the Honduran man. McAllen police believed it may have been the same Honduran man who allegedly committed the assault and robbery. ICE honored the request, officials said.

Oveido was in a coma for nearly a month and finally passed away Friday morning.

The victim was a 15-year US Navy veteran and served in Operation Desert Storm, according to his son, with more details on his military service appearing on GoFundMe:

Jose Luis served in the Navy for 9 years (1981 to 1990) in the VA72 Bluehawks Squadron stationed out of Jacksonville, Florida. He served time on three different aircraft carriers, [CV66 USS America, USS Independence, and USS Saratoga]. After leaving active duty, he continued to serve in the US Naval Reserves from 1990 to 1996 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

After Oveido’s death Friday, McAllen police said they would be consulting the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office to see if charges would be upgraded from aggravated assault and robbery to capital murder.

While the victim’s son said he hadn’t really thought about the nation’s immigration crisis, he has a different outlook now that his father is gone.

“I had no real opinion as far as the immigration stance goes, but now I believe that something like this could have been prevented had the right steps been taken,” he said.

The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s office did not return Infowars’ request for comment at the time of publishing.

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