Home / Dallas News / Affidavit: Sister of Garland shooting victim says she received gang-related messages after slayings

Affidavit: Sister of Garland shooting victim says she received gang-related messages after slayings

The sister of one of the teenagers who died in a Garland gas station shooting the day after Christmas told authorities that after the slayings she received several messages confirming her brother’s death and promoting a gang, according to an arrest affidavit obtained Tuesday.

The sister told Garland police the day after the shooting at the Texaco station in the 700 block of West Walnut Street that she received a message from a fake Instagram account saying “yo brotha dead asf,” and other subsequent messages pledging loyalty to a known gang in the area, according to the affidavit.

The message from the fake account led police to an initial suspect who they believed was in charge of that account based on Instagram and phone data. That person repeatedly denied involvement and pointed police to a different person as the shooter, according to the affidavit.

Police redacted most of the names in the affidavit, so it was unclear if the initial suspect had named Abel Elias Acosta, the 14-year-old who police now allege is the boy seen on surveillance footage sneaking up to the front door of the gas station before opening fire and running back to a pickup waiting outside the store near downtown Garland. Acosta remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous.

Police believe Acosta’s father, Richard Acosta Jr., 33, was the driver who took his son to and from the gas station. The father turned himself in last week and was charged with capital murder.

The father’s attorney, Heath Harris, said Monday that he believes evidence will show that his client didn’t know that his son “was going to do what he did.” Harris said he thinks evidence will also show that the son had been bullied at school, and had been assaulted and had his necklace stolen.

Killed in the Dec. 26 shooting were 14-year-old Xavier Gonzalez, 16-year-old Ivan Noyala and 17-year-old Rafael Garcia. A 15-year-old cook, whose name has not been not released, was injured. He had just started working at the gas station.

At least one of the victims was the shooter’s intended target, Garland police have said. Investigators have determined Xavier Gonzalez and the cook weren’t targets.

Another 14-year-old boy suspected in the shooting was initially detained but has since been released.

The arrest affidavit states that one of Garcia’s sisters told police the day after the shooting that she didn’t know of anyone who wanted to harm her brother, who she said was living with a friend. She told a detective that their family was not fond of two people, one of whom she described as a skinny kid who relatives didn’t want Garcia hanging out with, according to the affidavit.

The sister also said Garcia didn’t have any gang ties, and she later sent the detective the messages she had received on Instagram, which led police to an initial juvenile suspect.

What juvenile told police

The juvenile, whose name was redacted in the affidavit, told police that he had seen news about the shooting and was in a group chat where someone else named a different person as the shooter, the affidavit says. The text said the shooter was in a truck with other kids before running in alone and killing “Rafael” and “Ivan.”

The juvenile also told police that he was afraid of two people — whose names were redacted — because both had threatened him in the past, the affidavit says. Police said the juvenile remained consistent in his story. The affidavit says Richard Acosta Jr. turned himself in at the same time the juvenile was being interviewed.

The father told police he saw images of himself on TV so he came to the station, the affidavit says. A detective recognized the father as the driver in the shooting, and said the father had stopped the pickup just yards from the gas station’s front door and could be seen waiting in the driver’s seat as the shooter opened fire. The father then drove off after the shooter got back in the truck, the affidavit says.

Earlier surveillance footage shows the father parked the truck outside the gas station before the shooting happened and went inside to get medicine, the affidavit says. The father then left the store and circled part of the parking lot, according to the affidavit.

What defense attorney has said

Harris, the attorney for Richard Acosta Jr., has said that the father was getting medicine for his wife at the store. He said he thinks evidence will show that after his client got back to his pickup, his son told him he needed to get something, then went inside alone before returning to the truck and acting hysterical.

Harris said he also believes the evidence will show that the father was innocent, and that he’d heard gunfire and ducked but didn’t know the source of it.

Harris couldn’t be reached for additional comment Tuesday. Police have said the shooter fired at least 20 rounds inside the store.

Richard Acosta Jr. remained in the Dallas County jail Tuesday, with bail set at $3 million.

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