This is a developing story and may be updated.
What started as officers from several area law enforcement agencies chasing a man involved in a home invasion and theft of two vehicles in Valentine on the morning of May 4, ended in a shootout with the suspect and his death. For at least a few days after the shooting, the justice of the peace who pronounced the man dead said officers did not know his identity.
Texas Rangers’ records obtained by Big Bend Sentinel finally identified the man as Alejandro Huerta-Salinas, but the records did not offer any other information, such as his age or place of residence. However, the Ojinaga Noticias Facebook page posted two items for Alejandro Huerta S. last week offering condolences “for the young man taken away,” including a hamburger fundraiser to raise money to help pay for his body to be transported back to Ojinaga. (It’s typical in Mexico for people to only use the last initial or “N” for anonymous in legal cases, although the full name is given in obituaries.)
A Valentine resident told the Sentinel that they placed a call to the fundraiser and spoke to Huerta-Salinas’ mother, who confirmed it was him involved in the shooting. The resident was told that it would cost $5,500 to return the body to Mexico.
Jeff Davis County Justice of the Peace Mary Ann Luedecke ordered an autopsy for Huerta-Salinas, but it’s uncertain whether the results will be made public. The Sentinel also has filed a records request for video of the shooting, but video in an officer-involved shooting usually isn’t public until any investigations of the incident are complete. Law enforcement agencies are allowed by law to release them sooner, often in cases where there are community concerns about the justification for a shooting. The Texas Rangers have taken the lead in this investigation.
In a Sentinel request for “basic information,” publicly available details on an incident like the date, time, principal people involved—including those arrested and charges against them—officers involved and a general narrative of the event, the Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office did not provide any reports and stated it would not be because of an open ongoing investigation. The Marfa Police Department had not responded as of Sunday, although the law gives it 10 days, until May 26, to respond. The Texas Public Information Act does not allow law enforcement to withhold basic information, even in active investigations.
The Presidio County Sheriff’s Office, also involved in the incident, did release the details it had, which were few, since it is not the investigating agency. However, it did note that the chase of the suspect included by car and on foot.
The crime spree began when Huerta-Salinas stole a utility truck from Presidio earlier that morning, according to Presidio Police Chief Adan “Pugi” Covos, who said the employee assigned to the truck had left the keys in the console.
The accounts of what happened in Valentine that morning are from two witnesses. Huerta-Salinas asked John Maloney for gas because the vehicle was on empty. Maloney gave him all he had, half a gallon, and then the suspect left and allegedly broke down the door of a Valentine trailer home occupied by Vanessa Ornelas and her three sons. After a tense standoff, he eventually left and then proceeded to the area’s school, where he tried to gain entry, but the door was locked. He abandoned the truck and found an assistant principal’s SUV with the keys left in the vehicle and took off in it. By then, law enforcement had been alerted and began a pursuit of Huerta-Salinas, who had headed toward Marfa before turning around to head back to Valentine and then turning on RM 505. According to a Presidio County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Post, “During the pursuit, the suspect discharged several rounds at law enforcement officers, which ultimately resulted in the suspect being fatally wounded by law enforcement.”
In the past, the public and media were stymied in trying to obtain video of officer-involved shootings or someone dying in police custody because those records were kept private if a suspect was not convicted or received deferred adjudication—a means to protect the privacy of those acquitted or ultimately not charged. Since a dead person would never move forward in legal proceedings, police often withheld the records permanently, shielding the public from key details of what happened to those killed.
The Legislature changed the law in 2023 to close this “dead suspect loophole.” However, internal investigations and investigations involving other suspects, related to video, can be used to withhold video until they are complete.
