SAN ANTONIO – The arrest of murder suspect Christopher Medellin, 25, has provided relief to the victim's family.
Since learning about the death of Tomas Serna, 29, in June, Jessica Soto said she and her family have been living in agony.
"He had a big heart, and losing my brother, it caused me a lot of pain," she said. "It's been real hard, knowing that my brother's gone. And then the way they shot him in the motel, he didn't have to do that."
According to San Antonio police, Serna was shot to death as he slept inside a room at the Lackland Motel in the 200 block of Whitewood on June 18.
About a week later, they announced that detectives were looking for Medellin in connection with the slaying.
An arrest warrant affidavit stated that police tracked down Medellin's girlfriend at the Comal County Jail, where she and Medellin had been book after being arrested on an unrelated charge soon after Serna was killed. Medellin had been released after posting bond.
The affidavit stated that the girlfriend told detectives Medellin became angry after learning that she had spent time in the motel room with Serna doing drugs.
She and Medellin then returned to the motel room, and he shot Serna several times while he was still sleeping, the affidavit stated.
Soto, meanwhile, had been trying for days to reach her brother. She said the family did not find out until about a week after his death that he had been killed.
"We always kept contact. So when those days passed by, all those days, and we really knew something was wrong," Soto said.
What also came as a shock, she said, was learning that Medellin was the suspect. Soto said she and her siblings have known him since childhood.
Serna's death, she said, has left his 8-year-old son without a father.
Medellin was arrested late Wednesday night somewhere in the 200 block of Doolittle Street.
San Antonio police were not able to offer specifics about the arrest, but said detectives tracked him down through leads they had developed.
He was booked into the Bexar County Jail with bond set at $125,000.