All five of the suspects face charges of engaging in criminal activity and retaliation.
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — Five people are facing charges in connection with a murder-for-hire plot uncovered at the Bexar County Jail, Sheriff Javier Salazar announced Monday afternoon.
Salazar said the alleged plot was uncovered after a couple of days of investigation from their intelligence group within the jail.
According to BCSO, a detention site deputy monitoring jail phone calls believed he overheard a murder-for-hire plot, in which someone was trying to hire an inmate to arrange a killing outside the jail.
Salazar said inmate Adrian Daniel Farias, 36, was trying to enlist the help of other inmates in the hopes of finding someone that could kill a witness in his aggravated robbery case. Farias was able to get help from fellow inmate, Raymond Garza, 42, who contacted David Gomez Torres, 44, to commit the murder.
Authorities said 29-year-old Veronica Marie Herrera, a girlfriend of Farias, was also facilitating the murder plot outside the jail.
According to BCSO, Farias also approached inmate Aaron L-Shawn Johnson, 51, about “scaring the victim and possibly burning her car” for the price of $1,500. Johnson admitted to deputies to facilitating a meeting with Herrera and another unknown male about the murder.
Salazar said there may be other arrests in this crime and all five of the suspects face charges of engaging in criminal activity and retaliation.
The sheriff praised the deputy for being proactive and being able to decipher the murder-for-hire plot.
“We’ve got a very good intelligence group. This intel group, there is no doubt in my mind they absolutely saved a life,” Salazar said.