The Arlington Police Department has made an arrest in connection to the December 2021 shooting death of Alejandro Montes.
On Thursday, August 10, 2023, members of the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force and Arlington PD SWAT Team located 19-year-old Jose Pino in Arlington and took him into custody without incident.
Back on December 30, 2021, at approximately 12:56 a.m., officers responded to a gas station in the 700 block of E. Division Street after a then-17-year-old Pino called 911 to report that his 15-year-old friend, Montes, had been shot. Officers learned they left the location and drove into Grand Prairie where an ambulance met them. Mr. Montes was transported to a hospital in Dallas where he was later pronounced deceased from his injuries.
When investigators spoke to Mr. Pino, he initially told them an unknown suspect pulled up alongside them and shot at them. Physical evidence refuted those claims. After detectives pressed him on the matter, he told officers Mr. Montes was handling a gun and accidentally shot himself. Mr. Pino said he then took the gun and threw it out the window. Officers recovered the weapon and sent it, along with several other items, for forensic testing.
In 2023, the case was assigned to a new detective for follow-up investigation. In reviewing the case file, the detective learned the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office had ruled Mr. Montes’ death a homicide, concluding he could not have shot himself. In addition, lab reports revealed that gun shot residue was present on Mr. Pino’s hands, but not Mr. Montes’ hands.
The detective re-interviewed Mr. Pino -- and subsequently obtained warrants for his arrest on one count of Manslaughter and one count of Tampering (related to throwing the gun out the window).
Mr. Pino was booked into the Arlington City Jail on those warrants and has since been transferred to the Tarrant County Jail.
