McAllen murder victim was killed with machete, doctors say

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The victim of a McAllen homicide investigation was killed with a machete, documents show.

Last week, McAllen police announced they were investigating the death of Jose Edgardo Sorto. They also announced they were searching for 26-year-old Hector Neptaly Reyes Mendoza, who has a murder warrant, and that Mario Nelson Amaya was arrested for making false statements to a police officer.

The affidavit for Amaya’s arrest provided new details about Sorto’s death, including how he was allegedly killed.

On June 5 at 8:45 p.m., McAllen police responded to the 2000 block of Houston Avenue for a welfare call. Police said Sorto, who lived at that location, had not been seen for two days.

On June 6, investigators arrived and noticed the smell of a decomposing body coming from one of the rooms, the affidavit states. The room in question belonged to another man who also lived at the same location.

Investigators spoke with Amaya, who initially said he knew how he was killed. In a second interview, Amaya said he never made the original statement.

The affidavit states that Amaya knew that Sorto had been killed with a machete in an attempt to deceive a detective, but later denied it.

In the first interview, Amaya also said he did not have any photos of the person in question, but later provided photos of the person that he had on his phone, the document says.

In addition, Amaya told police that he had not spoken to the suspect since June 4. However, a search of his phone revealed that he called him on June 5, the affidavit states.

Authorities obtained a search warrant for Amaya’s vehicle and found evidence in the back seat that “may be related to the investigation,” the document said.

Amaya was arraigned on June 8 and his bail was set at $2,000. He was released from jail the following day.

Mendoza is still at large and anyone with information is asked to contact McAllen Police.