Two men arrested in connection with fatal shooting of 16-year-old in drug deal gone wrong

On Sept. 4, San Antonio police were called to the Estates at Northwood apartments in the 17600 block of Henderson Pass for a shooting in progress. When they arrived, police found Diaz with a gunshot wound to his chest, lying next to a vehicle in the parking lot.

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Diaz had been shot inside the car but got out of the vehicle and collapsed on the pavement outside the driver’s side door.

Surveillance footage showed two men, later identified as Vera and Duarte, walk up to Diaz’s passenger front window. Seconds later, Diaz’s vehicle reverses quickly and Vera and Duarte each pull out a handgun and fire into the vehicle before fleeing, the affidavit said. Three other people who were also inside the vehicle fled on foot after the shooting.

One of the passengers later told police that Diaz had been in the parking lot to sell Vera 30 THC vape cartridges, the affidavit said. He said the suspects spoke with Diaz about using a phone pay app. After Diaz agreed, Duarte and Vera started shooting into the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Two days after the shooting, the North East ISD Police Chief called investigators and said a teacher had seen the photos of the shooting suspects and identified Duarte as a former student, the affidavit said.

Police later discovered Diaz had been communicating with a user on Snapchat named nbajulian2, identified as Vera, who had instructed Diaz to come to the apartment complex, the affidavit continued.

While investigators honed in on the two, Vera was arrested on Dec. 3 in connection with an aggravated robbery that took place on Sept. 17. In that incident, police accuse Vera of using Snapchat to purchase THC cartridges and robbing the victim at gunpoint, the affidavit said. Duarte was arrested in connection with a similar incident on Nov. 3.

On Dec. 4, Vera admitted to investigators his involvement in the shooting and identified Duarte as his accomplice, the affidavit said. Vera, however, said they started shooting because Diaz put his car in reverse and “he feared for his life,” according to the affidavit.

Vera told police he only shot once and Duarte shot multiple times into the vehicle, the affidavit said.

Both men were arrested Dec. 5. Their bail was set at $350,000 each.

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | [email protected] | @TaylorPettaway