SAN ANTONIO – An 18-year-old man was arrested in connection with the deaths of two men during a botched carjacking in south Bexar County, according to records.
Daquan Veneka Ruffin was charged with capital murder-other felony in the shooting that happened Aug. 8 near Highway 281 and Hume Road, an arrest warrant affidavit states.
During the incident, Ricardo De La Fuente was shot and killed by a then-15-year-old suspect who claimed to want to buy a 2006 Dodge Charger, the affidavit states. The boy turned 16 years old after the incident. KSAT is not naming him due to his age.
The owner of the Charger, who is related to De La Fuente, was injured and taken to the hospital but survived.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar later said a teenager involved with the suspects, identified as Dontrae Alvin Suarez, was also shot in the incident. Ruffin and another suspect drove Suarez to the hospital 30 minutes after the shooting, and he later died.
Details about the case were revealed in the arrest warrant affidavit that was signed on Friday.
Investigators said the owner of the Charger was communicating with someone on Instagram to sell the car for $5,000 in cash.
The owner told authorities that he, a relative and De La Fuente met with the Instagram user in front of the user’s apartment on Foster Road on Aug. 7, and he inspected the vehicle. They then arranged for him to test drive the vehicle the following day.
On the night of Aug. 8, the group of four suspects — including the juvenile boy, Ruffin and Suarez — arrived at the Charger’s owner’s home in a sedan.
The affidavit states the juvenile boy and Suarez went for a test drive with the Charger’s owner and De La Fuente, the affidavit states. Ruffin and a fourth suspect remained in their sedan.
After the drive, when it was time to pay, the Charger’s owner saw the juvenile boy, who was in the driver’s seat, pull out a pistol, the affidavit states.
The owner said he grabbed the pistol and wrestled with the boy, but he was shot in the arm and the back.
At some point, Suarez, who was sitting in the back seat, was shot.
The Charger’s owner said a relative had given them a gun before the transaction to use as protection in case the buyer tried to rob them. He said he didn’t know if De La Fuente used it to shoot back.
The owner also stated Ruffin got out of his sedan and stole his wallet at gunpoint.
The suspects fled in the Charger and the sedan. The gun given to the Charger’s owner to use as protection was missing from the scene.
Investigators were able to find the apartment complex where the victims first met up with the potential buyers and learned it was where the juvenile boy lived.
Investigators executed a search warrant at a unit there and found two guns inside a dryer, including the pistol that was given to the Charger’s owner for protection.
Investigators also found the Charger parked near a store on the Southwest Side.
The affidavit states a relative of Suarez later identified Ruffin as one of Suarez’s friends. Authorities said Ruffin’s photos also matched one of the men who took Suarez to the hospital on the night of the shooting.
Ruffin was arrested on Sept. 14 for an active felony warrant after being identified in a minor vehicle accident.
He later told authorities that he was with Suarez, the juvenile boy and a fourth suspect that night to meet “some people” for the purpose of stealing the Charger, the affidavit states.
He claimed he told Suarez and the juvenile boy that it was “too risky,” but they said he was “being cowardly,” the affidavit states.
After the shooting, Ruffin said he told the juvenile boy to leave and not talk to anyone, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states Ruffin was charged in the case because he knowingly participated in a robbery that led to the fatal shooting.
The warrant was issued on Friday but was already being held at the Bexar County Jail due to the active felony warrant. A hearing is set for Nov. 8.
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