SAN ANTONIO - The man accused of opening fire on a car and killing a 31-year-old man on the Northeast Side is now charged with murder after investigators say he admitted to the shooting during a recorded jail phone call.
Martin Sanchez Jr. was initially arrested on charges of tampering with evidence and failure to report a felony following Monday's shooting that killed Andrew Locke and wounded Locke's mother. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Wednesday that investigators have since gathered enough evidence to charge Sanchez with murder.
Factors that led us to being able to obtain enough information on Martin, quite frankly, is that a jail phone call was intercepted, and during the course of that jail phone call, he clearly states several times that he shot this man that eventually died,” Salazar said. “All of that led us to being able to apply for and were granted the arrest warrant this morning, and again, he now faces that murder charge.
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The shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. Monday near Waterside and Crestway roads.
Locke was sitting in the back seat of a Mitsubishi Lancer when someone in a white Volvo pulled alongside the car and fired about 10 rounds. Locke died at the scene, while his mother, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was shot several times and taken to the hospital. She remains in stable condition.
Investigators now believe both vehicles had been at the same home shortly before the shooting. Salazar said the people in the two cars apparently did not know one another, but Sanchez and the others in the Volvo became suspicious when Locke's vehicle traveled in the same direction after leaving the home.
The suspects at that time became somewhat paranoid,” Salazar said. “They became a bit paranoid that this other vehicle containing the victims may have been following them. We don't believe that that was the case. We believe that they were just happening to go the same direction.
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According to arrest reports, Robert Barnett, 38, told investigators Sanchez was sitting behind him in the Volvo when Sanchez said, “I'm going to light them up,” before firing into Locke's car.
Salazar said Locke was experiencing what appeared to be a mental health crisis and his mother was trying to take him to a hospital when the shooting happened.
We're understanding that Andrew was undergoing some sort of a psychological episode, some sort of mental health episode of his own,” Salazar said. “She was intending to take him to the hospital.
Investigators believe Sanchez fired roughly 10 rounds from a semi-automatic handgun.
“He was just acting very paranoid is the term that kept coming up, and he thought they were being followed,” Salazar said. “At this point, we don't believe that they were being followed. I think they just happened to be going the same direction, and unfortunately, when the victims pulled up on the side, unbeknownst to them, they got 10 rounds fired into their car, approximately.”
Barnett and Kyle Erin Torres-Carcovich, 45, were also arrested in connection with the case. Both were initially charged with failure to report a felony. Salazar said Barnett is now also facing a tampering with evidence charge.
The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered, and investigators are continuing to search for it.
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