TYLER, Texas — Documents say 19-year-old Rawly "Eli" Sanchez was fatally shot in the back of the head on the Fourth of July when he and his friends were making a U-turn behind a Tyler-area business to correct a previous wrong turn.
Seferino Bautista-Renteria, 35, the owner of Bautista Auto Sales, is charged with murder in connection with the death of Sanchez on July 4. According to the Smith County Sheriff's Office, the shooting happened around 10 p.m. at Bautista's Auto Sales, located in the 3700 block of US Highway 271 in Tyler.
Arrest documents also reveal a woman, Corina Lizeth Bautista, 35, has been charged with tampering with evidence for accusations of hiding a vehicle connected to the shooting.
According to an arrest affidavit, 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.
That's when the driver said he 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.
Around the same time the shooting was reported, Tyler police was investigating a deadly conduct incident and drove by Bautista Auto Sales to see a white Ford Explorer outside the business with bullet holes. The officer checked the area, but he found no one around, the document read.
The Tyler police officer said he noticed 25 minutes later that the vehicle was gone. The officer told deputies what he observed, and around that time, Corina Bautista came to the business, according to the affidavit.
She told deputies that the Explorer was never there, but when shown video of the Explorer she changed her story, saying someone shot at them. Investigators believe she did this in attempt to conceal this vehicle.
"Corina's story began changing and it was apparent she was lying," the document read.
The Explorer was later found parked in front of her home. At her residence, 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. He said he grabbed his son and took him inside. When asked about when the shots happened, he told police he didn't know, saying he stayed inside with his son.
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, Corina 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.
Corina Bautista went back and forth about whether or not the business had guns, but she ultimately admitted that there were guns at the location. She claimed the guns are kept unloaded, the affidavit said.
While searching Bautista's Auto Sales, investigators found 2 AK style rifles, loaded with magazines in a utility terrain vehicle found in the back building.
Bautista-Renteria is now also facing two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting. He remains jailed on bonds totaling $2.8 million. Corina Bautista was released on a $25,000 bond on Friday.