Teen who allegedly helped Sicarios shoot man outside eastside bar charged with murder

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Gael Hernandez was just 18 when El Paso Police say he piled a group of Sicarios (hitmen) into his white PT Cruiser and drove them to an East El Paso bar. Court documents detail how the Sicarios were carrying duffle bags full of rifles.

When the group got to their destination, the 1111 Bar on the 1400 block of North Zaragoza Road, police say the Sicarios got out of the PT Cruiser and shot an man. Hernandez then drove them to a safe location for pick up, while the victim was rushed to the hospital, investigators explain. The victim later died.

Now 19, Hernandez is charged with murder for his alleged role in the fatal shooting. Neither court documents nor police have yet revealed the name of the victim. ABC-7 was there the morning of December 28, 2022, capturing video and images of the crime scene the Sicarios allegedly left behind.

Read our initial story from December 2022 on this crime here.

Police traveled to Luna County, New Mexico to interview Hernandez a few months after the murder. He was being detained by Border Patrol on an unrelated matter. Court documents recount how investigators sat down to talk with Hernandez, who explained that he had first driven the Sicarios on a previous night. The Sicarios tried to kill the victim on that night, but the plan fell through. They then tried again, and succeeded, to murder the victim the morning of December 28, 2022.

Investigators also spoke to other individuals allegedly involved in the case, who explained that Hernandez had been put in charge of the Sicarios while they were in town. They did not explain who allegedly put Hernandez in charge of the group, court documents state.

ABC-7 is working to learn if police have arrested anyone else in connection to this murder.