06 Oct McAllen Murderer Gets Life In Prison

A 38-year-old McAllen man will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole after a Hidalgo County jury convicted him of capital murder in a fatal 2017 drug robbery.

Armando Adrian Arebalo was sentenced immediately following his conviction for the June 19, 2017, shooting death of 41-year-old Nicholas Anthony Bazan, according to the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office.

Arebalo is the second person convicted in the botched robbery involving cash and methamphetamine. His co-defendant, 30-year-old Alex Arevalo, pleaded guilty to murder three years ago and is serving a 45-year prison sentence.

Three other co-defendants, Avero Olivarez Alaniz, 58, Roberta Martinez, 42, and Monica Ann Winkle Gomez, 43, face pending capital murder charges. All have pleaded not guilty.

McAllen police officers responded around 12:42 a.m. to reported gunshots in the 2100 block of North Main Street. Minutes later, a resident on nearby West Vine Avenue called 911 to report a man shouting for help in his backyard.

Officers found Bazan dead at the scene from a single gunshot wound, his front pockets turned inside out.

Surveillance video captured a light-colored van slowing down on North Main Street as Bazan fled the vehicle. Investigators later learned Bazan had been seen carrying a large roll of cash the day before his death and had been drinking with Alex Arevalo and Alaniz at the Orchard Lounge days earlier.

During police interrogations, Alex Arevalo admitted to shooting Bazan inside the van. He identified the other occupants as Alaniz, Gomez, Martinez (who is Arevalo’s cousin) and Arebalo, who was dating Martinez at the time.

Authorities noted Arebalo, an identified “Loco 13” gang member, was previously arrested by federal agents in 2018 while out on bond for the capital murder charge (his original arrest). Federal court documents show Arebalo sold two pounds of methamphetamine to an undercover FBI informant to raise money for his defense attorney, telling the informant he planned to flee if he could not afford legal counsel.

Alaniz remains held in the Hidalgo County jail on a $1 million bond, where he has been detained since August 2017. Gomez and Martinez are currently out on bond.

Alaniz and Gomez are scheduled for pre-trial hearings later this month, while court records list Martinez’s next court appearance for late August.