Affidavit: Wrong turn led to deadly shooting at Tyler business

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – An arrest affidavit for a Tyler business owner said a wrong turn led to the shooting death of a teen on the Fourth of July.

Seferino Bautista-Renteria, 35, of Tyler, was arrested on Friday after 19-year-old Rawly Sanchez was shot in the back of the head while riding past the suspect’s auto shop in a truck on the night of the Fourth of July holiday. Bautista-Renteria’s arrest affidavit gives new details on the investigation.

According to the document, Sanchez was riding in the back seat of a truck on Old Gladewater Highway with two friends in the front seats. The men had turned around behind Bautista Auto after realizing they’d taken a wrong turn, they said, and reported seeing a person holding an AK-47 style rifle as they passed the business. The driver of the truck reported that the person fired multiple shots at them, and once they realized Sanchez had been hit in the back of the head, they drove directly to CHRISTUS Mother Frances in Tyler.

The affidavit says that while Sanchez’s friends were taking him to the ER, an officer went out on a deadly conduct call to an area near the auto shop. He reportedly saw a white Ford Explorer outside the business with apparent bullet holes, but was unable to find anyone nearby. The officer continued his initial response, the document said, and once he returned to the shop around 25 minutes later, the vehicle was gone.

At this point, deputies arrived on scene and the officer reported his observations. Soon after, Corina Bautista, 35, appeared in a Cadillac. The officials questioned Corina Bautista about the Explorer, and she reportedly denied that the vehicle was ever there. The woman was then shown footage of the vehicle on the scene, and the document said she then reported that someone had been shooting at them. Due to Corina Bautista’s story shifting, the document says the officers believed she was lying.

Officers then traveled to Corina Bautista’s home in Tyler, where the document says they found the Explorer on the property. Children at the home reportedly told the officials that there were no adults present, but Bautista-Renteria soon appeared. He and a child were questioned about the incident, and the document recounted their statements that the child had nearly been hit by a passing truck outside the auto shop before being taken indoors by Bautista-Renteria.

The suspect said that he didn’t shoot a gun, the document said, and the child reported that he heard gunshots from inside but did not witness the incident.

After finding shell casings and rifles at Bautista Auto that matched the bullet holes in the Explorer, the document said Bautista-Renteria was arrested on a charge of murder. He was booked into the Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond. Corina Bautista was arrested on a charge of tampering with evidence for her alleged role in hiding the Explorer, and was booked on a $25,000 bond.

Bautista-Renteria remains in jail, and Corina Bautista bonded out on July 5.

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