SAN ANTONIO – Roberto Flores was a grandfather known for keeping a smile on his loved ones' faces, and the news of his tragic killing has left his family heartbroken and asking why.
“We didn't think that something like that would happen to my brother because he wasn't a bad person,” said Sylvia Flores, Roberto Flores’ sister.
Investigators found Roberto Flores’ body Monday, dumped in a South Side field on Escalon Avenue and Gillette Boulevard. Police said that, based on a witness statement, before being discovered in the field, Roberto Flores’ body had been wrapped in a tarp and stored in the garage he shared with 45-year-old Richard Rodriguez Jr.
The garage is behind a home on Regina Street near Hackberry.
“Just killed my brother and kept him there and decided to just go and dispose of his body like if he was a dead animal,” Sylvia Flores said.
Police said Rodriguez led them to Roberto Flores’ body and admitted to choking him to death during an altercation on June 13, after Roberto Flores allegedly stole Rodriguez's cellphone and then tried to sell it to one of Rodriguez's friends.
“(Roberto Flores) wasn't even a thief. He was a good guy,” Sylvia Flores said.
She has a contrasting opinion about the man charged with his violent death.
“He’s just the cold-blooded murderer because then he was driving my brother's truck after he had him there in the bedroom, dead,” Sylvia Flores said.
Roberto Flores leaves behind two children and three grandchildren. His family is in the process of planning his funeral.
Rodriguez is in the Bexar County Jail facing murder and evading arrest charges, with a total bail set at $102,500.