SAN ANTONIO – A suspect who had been hunted by police for nearly a week is behind bars Thursday after he was charged with capital murder in the shooting death of a 5-year-old girl.
Abdi Hassan Abdi, 18, was arrested Thursday morning by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in connection with the slaying of Ana Garza.
Abdi didn't answer questions from reporters about the shooting as he was led in handcuffs to a San Antonio Police Department patrol car.
Ana died at University Hospital on Wednesday when her family decided to remove her from life support. Her stepfather, Carlos Aguilar, was also wounded and is on life support at San Antonio Military Medical Center.
Court documents obtained by KSAT provided more clues to the possible motive behind the slaying.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, shortly after the shooting on June 1, officers arrested two men who crashed a stolen car that witnesses saw leaving the scene of the shooting.
One of the captured suspects, Murjan Abdi, told investigators that he and his cousin, Abdi Hassan Abdi, and two other men, went to a home in the 800 block of Pecan Valley Drive to "rob them of their weed" but "no one was supposed to get shot."
Murjan Abdi said he and the other suspects lured Aguilar out of his home by telling him they accidentally hit his parked car. When he came outside to inspect the damage, the four armed men surrounded Aguilar. One of the suspects pulled Aguilar's shirt over his head and held a gun to his head. Aguilar was apparently shot in the neck after he tried to grab the gun or get away as the assailants led him back toward the home.
The affidavit said Aguilar yelled at his family members inside the home to close the door. He was then shot several times in the chest.
Murjan Abdi also told investigators he believed it was Abdi Abdi who fired shots at the home, the affidavit said. One of the bullets struck Ana in the head as she slept in a front room. One of the suspects then broke a window and climbed into the home but left when they heard police coming.
According to the documents, on Tuesday homicide detectives were contacted by a person who knows Abdi Abdi, who said she knew where he was. The witness told investigators Abdi reached out to her on Facebook Messenger three days after the shooting and said "he did not mean to do that to the little girl," and "we all fired guns." Abdi Abdi is charged with one count of capital murder and one count of misdemeanor escape.
He was also charged with aggravated robbery for a crime in late May. The victim in the case identified Abdi as her attacker when she saw his picture on TV as a person of interest in the shooting.
Murjan Abdi was also charged Wednesday with capital murder for his alleged role in the shooting.
Police are still looking for the other two men involved in the shooting. Investigators believe they may have recent injuries sustained during the shooting. Investigators are also looking at Abdi Abdi as a suspect in several other recent armed robberies and possibly another slaying.
According to Ana's mother's Facebook page, a vigil for the little girl is scheduled for Sunday from 7 to 10 p.m. at St. Stephen Baptist Church at 2014 E. Carson.