Mission man charged with infant’s hot car death also accused in 2021 murder
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Mission man charged with infant’s hot car death also accused in 2021 murder

Mission man charged with infant’s hot car death also accused in 2021 murder 1
Ricardo Adrian Mata

The 34-year-old Mission man accused of forgetting his 3 month old in a car resulting in their death had his bond revoked Tuesday in a 2021 murder.

Ricardo Adrian Mata was charged with injury to a child causing death on Sunday for leaving his child locked in his vehicle after he drank and fell asleep Saturday, according to a news release from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.

On Monday, state prosecutors filed a motion to revoke Mata’s bond and he was discharged from the alternative incarceration program over his arrest for the death of his child.

At about 3:48 p.m. Saturday, sheriff’s deputies responded to the Mission Regional Medical Center after a report about an unresponsive child being found in a locked vehicle.

The deputies secured a residence located in the 3200 block of John Mark Court in rural Mission along with the vehicle connected to the case.

On Sunday, authorities arrested Mata.

“Investigators gathered information from witness interviews indicating that the child had been left in the care of his father, Ricardo Mata,” a news release stated. “During a formal interview, Mata admitted to placing the child in the backseat of his vehicle and then going inside his residence to lie down. He further stated that he had been drinking and forgot that the child was in the car.”

According to the motion to revoke, Mata was released on Feb. 1, 2023, on $100,000 bonds for one count of murder and another for attempted capital murder of multiple persons. Mata is accused of killing 22-year-old Leonardo Veliz and critically injuring his brother, 21-year-old Emmanuel Veliz, with a firearm.

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That shooting happened on Oct. 14, 2021, following a confrontation at a Mission Stripes located on FM 492 and State Highway 107 involving multiple people, including co-defendants 31-year-old Obed Peña and 25-year-old Jose Maria Victoria Jr., according to probable cause affidavits.

On that day, the Veliz brothers were in a Nissan Versa when they shared their live location with Peña who was driving a gray Dodge Ram with Victoria and met at the Stripes to drop something off.

According to the affidavits, Victoria tried to assault Leonardo with a brown handgun which caused the brothers to chase him and Peña to the area of 6 Mile Line and Bentsen Palm Drive, which is where the brothers were hit by gunfire.

The fight ended when a friend of the Veliz brother’s fired back at Victoria and Peña.

Mata’s affidavit alleges that he was present in a third vehicle, namely a silver Chevrolet truck which was seen driving away from the scene of the shooting.

Investigators interviewed Mata’s girlfriend who signed an affidavit stating that Mata was in possession of that truck, which she owned, and that he called her that day saying he and another man were involved in a shooting, according to the affidavit.

Mata was also linked to the shooting when detectives went through his phone records which revealed calls between him and Peña before and after the shooting.

Mata is now in custody on a $2 million bond for the death of their child.

The post Mission man charged with infant’s hot car death also accused in 2021 murder appeared first on MyRGV.com.

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