SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police arrested a man who later admitted he pulled the trigger in a deadly shooting on Monday at a Northwest Side home.
Aaron Arocha, 21, has been charged with murder in connection with the death of Sheri Tolosa, 44, at a home in the 1000 block of Donaldson Avenue.
According to Arocha’s arrest affidavit, his aunt — who was out-of-town but lived at the home — said another relative learned Arocha allegedly shot someone at the home.
Officers first responded to the location, but they didn’t find any activity that warranted a forced entry and left soon after, investigators said.
Just after 12:30 p.m., the niece of the original 911 caller asked SAPD to return to the home because no one could get Arocha or Tolosa on the phone.
When they entered the home, officers later found Tolosa in the home’s kitchen with multiple gunshot wounds, the affidavit states. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police officers said they found five shell casings at the scene, including some in the dining room. Investigators believe she appeared to be running from Arocha, starting in the home’s dining room and towards the kitchen with a “bag of some sort of food” in her hands.
Arocha was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Thursday and has had his bond set at $500,000, jail and court records show.
Interviews with the police
In an interview with SAPD, the niece recalled a conversation she had with an uncle.
During the conversation, one day before officers found Tolosa’s body, she claims her uncle told her Arocha shot someone at the home on Donaldson Avenue. The niece’s aunt confirmed the same information to police, court documents show.
The aunt also told police Arocha sent her a video.
In the video, Arocha showed the camera a “possible bruise” on his knee and believed Tolosa was responsible for the wound, according to investigators.
He later called the woman, told her he “loved” her and was “sorry” before he hung up the phone, the affdavit states.
On Monday morning, officers said they were able to track Arocha, who was in Houston, on his way back to San Antonio. SAPD said Arocha was arrested on Tuesday on unrelated charges.
In his Tuesday interview with officers, documents show Arocha repeatedly said he “did not know” to all questions related to Tolosa’s death.
Inside the suspect’s vehicle
Investigators said they obtained a search warrant for Arocha’s vehicle Wednesday.
Inside the vehicle’s center console, according to police, was a box of .380 caliber rounds — the same brand and caliber found at the crime scene and next to Tolosa’s body. Some rounds in the box were already missing.
A second uncle interviewed by police on Wednesday said Arocha called him hours after the shooting and wanted to talk in person. According to the affidavit, the two met at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
During their conversation, the second uncle told officers that Arocha said Santa Muerte made him kill Tolosa. The suspect also told the uncle that he shot her in the face four times.
When asked if Tolosa did anything to warrant her death, Arocha told the second uncle “no,” the affidavit states.
The man advised Arocha to turn himself in to police, but he refused. Documents show Arocha had planned to go back to Houston followed by a stay in Arizona.
What is Santa Muerte?
The origin of Santa Muerte is deeply rooted in indigenous Latin American culture, along with Mictlan, the Aztec goddess of the dead and ruler of the underworld.
Santa Muerte is also viewed as an “unofficial saint” often associated with cartels, gangs or sex workers.
Dr. Malgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba, a University of Texas at San Antonio professor of Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies, said the Santa Muerte can be associated with organized crime, but there is much more behind it.
“This is not the whole story,” Oleszkiewicz-Peralba told KSAT in 2024. “I think the majority (of it) is because of lack of social justice and feeling of abandonment and that people look for her.”
Dr. Sean Viña, a sociology professor at the University of the Incarnate Word, highlighted that those who may feel marginalized by society or religion—such as members of the LGBTQ+ community or single mothers — are not exclusively associated with illicit activity.
According to Viña, Catholicism does not condone Santa Muerte nor does it recognize Santa Muerte as a saint.
Arocha is expected back in court on July 14.
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