TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video aired on July 8, 2024.
The owners of a Smith County auto shop accused in the shooting death of a 19-year-old on the Fourth of July were recently indicted.
Seferino Bautista-Renteria, 35, is charged with murder, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, tampering or fabricating evidence and deadly conduct by discharge of a firearm in connection with the shooting that killed Rawly "Eli" Sanchez. Corina Lizeth Bautista, 35, is charged with tampering with evidence. The six indictments came down on Aug. 29, according to judicial records.
Bautista-Renteria has a court appearance on Oct. 29 in the 114th District Court. Bautista will have an arraignment hearing on Sept. 30 in the same court, records show. Bautista-Renteria remains in jail on bonds totaling $4.7 million, while Bautista was released on bond.
According to an arrest affidavit, Sanchez was fatally shot in the back of the head when he and his friends were making a U-turn behind Bautista Auto Sales, located in the 3700 block of US Highway 271 in Tyler, to correct a previous wrong turn.
Sanchez and his friends were leaving a friend's home and going south on Highway 271. The driver turned onto Old Gladewater Highway, but they realized it would not lead to Montgomery Gardens. So the driver made a U-Turn behind Bautista's Auto Sales.
The driver told police they saw a person come out a building at the business with what looked like an AK-47 style rifle. The driver said the person shot several times at them with one of the rounds hitting Sanchez in the backseat. The driver headed straight to a Tyler hospital to get help, the affidavit said.
When the shooting was reported, Tyler police were investigating a deadly conduct incident and drove by Bautista Auto Sales to see a white Ford Explorer outside the business with bullet holes. No one was there, but 25 minutes later the vehicle was gone and that's when Corina Bautista came to the business, according to the affidavit.
She told police that the vehicle was never there, but when shown video of the Explorer, her story changed and she claimed someone shot at them. Investigators believed she was lying to hide the vehicle, the affidavit read.
The Explorer was later found at her home, where Bautista-Renteria came out and spoke to deputies. He said he was at the lake with his family and dropped off their jet skis that night, the affidavit stated.
He claimed he was outside the business with his young son and a truck almost hit the boy. When asked about when the shots happened, he told police he didn't know, saying he went and stayed inside with his son, according to the document.
Investigators wrote Bautista-Renteria said he didn't shoot any gun, the document read. Bautista-Renteria's son told investigators that a truck almost hit him, and after that happened, his father he went back outside. The son said that's when he heard the gunshots, the affidavit read. Bautista-Renteria's son told deputies they have several guns in the house for protection.
When asked about the shooting, Bautista said she thought the shooting happened down the road, but her statements would change, the document explained.
Investigators found several bullet casings and it looked like a rifle was used to shoot at the driver's truck. When deputies wanted to speak with Bautista-Renteria, he asked for a lawyer, according to the affidavit.