SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man who was found not guilty of murder in 2022 has been rearrested and charged with murder in a separate incident.
Mario Duarte is now under arrest in connection with a deadly shootout on April 12, 2024.
According to an arrest affidavit, Duarte and his friend, Martin Henderson, met with two other men to sell a gun.
The incident took place outside an apartment complex in the 8700 block of Starr Ranch located off Interstate 10 near Fair Oaks Parkway.
According to the affidavit, Duarte was sitting in the back seat conducting the sale of the gun when he allegedly pointed the gun at one of the men, who pushed the gun away and ran out of the vehicle.
The driver of the other vehicle told police he saw Duarte then point the gun at him, and that is when he grabbed his own gun and fired multiple rounds.
The driver told Bexar County Sheriff Office investigators that his friend then jumped bank into his vehicle, and as they drove off he fired a few more rounds.
As soon as they were away from the apartment complex, the driver called 911 to report that he believed he had shot someone after being robbed.
Duarte was shot several times in the legs and was transported to University Hospital. Henderson was shot in the head and died of his injuries.
Duarte was charged with aggravated robbery and the murder charge was later added. The affidavit said his alleged actions were clearly dangerous to human life and caused Henderson’s death.
His sister, Yazmine Duarte, who was also in the vehicle, was also arrested and charged with aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence.
After the shooting, Yazmine Duarte admitted to investigators that she ran back to her apartment to drop off a black bag. The bag was later found behind a washer/dryer with four handguns inside it.
In 2022, Mario Duarte was found not guilty for the September 2020 murder of Sabstein Diaz, 16.
In surveillance video shown during the the trial, Duarte and his cousin are seen showing up to a North Side apartment complex and walking over to an SUV driven by Diaz, who the prosecution said was there to sell them drugs.
Less than a minute later, Duarte can be seen running off while the SUV reverses. As Diaz gets out and collapses in the parking lot, three passengers bail out and run off, too.
One person can be seen running back to the SUV and appears to reach inside it.
Duarte’s attorneys argued the shooting was the result of self-defense and the jury found him not guilty.