Records: Suspects dug grave for teen victim before fatally shooting him in head

Juan Carlos Garcia, 17, was arrested on suspicion of shooting another teen to death on the South Side on Dec. 5. Juan Carlos Garcia, 17, was arrested on suspicion of shooting another teen to death on the South Side on Dec. 5. Photo: Dylan McGuinness /Express-News Photo: Dylan McGuinness /Express-News Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Records: Suspects dug grave for teen victim before fatally shooting him in head 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

The two teenagers accused of killing a 16-year-old boy on the South Side dug a grave for him before they beat him with a baseball bat and fatally shot him in the head, according to court records.

One of the suspects, Juan Carlos Garcia, was arrested Monday and charged with murder in the death of Christian Jimenez-Santos. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

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The second suspect and Garcia's cousin, Salvador Garcia-Godinez, has not been apprehended. According to court records, he is a Mexican national and has made plans to cross the border.

Garcia's arrest affidavit says the gruesome slaying resulted from a dispute over drugs and money. Garcia and Garcia-Godinez, both 17, dug a grave on a property in the 1300 block of Vermont Street, where Garcia's family lived. They intended to kill Jimenez-Santos there, authorities said.

On Dec. 5, the suspects confronted Jimenez-Santos at the planned location, and Garcia-Godinez assaulted him with a baseball bat, the affidavit says. Garcia-Godinez then tried to shoot him, but he missed, and Jimenez-Santos started running away, authorities said.

Garcia and Garcia-Godinez chased the victim down to the 400 block of Huron Street, where Garcia shot him in the head, documents show.

Because Jimenez-Santos fled, the two suspects didn't bury him as planned, the affidavit says. Police found him lying face-down next to an abandoned home. They later found bullet casings and the grave on the Vermont Street property. Investigators questioned Garcia's family about the shooting, and they said their son wasn't at home and never made it to school.

RELATED: 17-year-old charged in death of teen on the South Side

Jimenez-Santos remained in critical condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center until Sunday, when he died. That same day, Garcia-Godinez allegedly confided to a relative about what happened and said he was going to flee Texas and return to Mexico.

The relative told Garcia's mother and brother about the alleged slaying, and they told police on Monday. Officers then secured an arrest warrant for Garcia and booked him into jail. Garcia-Godinez remains at large.

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Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com |

cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns