Ranch hand for legislator wanted in fatal beating Ranch hand for Texas Rep. Flores wanted in fatal beating

McALLEN — A ranch worker hired by a Texas lawmaker is a suspected illegal immigrant now wanted in the fatal beating of a young Hispanic man, authorities said Monday.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said Froylen Casares, 24, is suspected of using a bat to beat another man to death on the ranch early Monday. Casares, a Honduran, remained at large Monday afternoon.

"It was a very bloody, very bloody, very gruesome crime scene," Trevino said in a story for Monday's online edition of The Monitor in McAllen.

Authorities declined to name the dead man, who was killed in a shed next to horse stables on the ranch.

Casares was employed at a ranch owned by state Rep. Kino Flores, who said he hired the man without checking his immigration status.

"He was preppy. He looked the part. No indication. He fit in extremely well, he had family members here," Flores, D-Palmview, told the newspaper. "It just looks bad in general. I certainly don't want to go around challenging people's status."

Flores said he did not know the victim.

Casares' immigration status and whether Flores broke the law by hiring him would have to be investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trevino said.

"I will make our documents, our case available to them," the sheriff said.

An ICE spokeswoman declined to comment Monday night, saying the agency has not reviewed the case and has not been asked to assist.

"If they call us in to determine the immigration status we will," spokeswoman Nina Pruneda told the newspaper.