By Karen Gleason
delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez has identified the victim of Monday’s murder and announced sheriff’s office investigators have detained a person of interest in the case.
Martinez told the 830 Times today the victim of Monday’s fatal shooting is Jose “Joey” Burgi, 21, a resident of Del Rio.
“We have a person of interest detained in the case, on a felony warrant out of Uvalde County, but the investigation is still in its early stages, and he is a person of interest at this time only,” Martinez said in a telephone interview this afternoon.
Martinez declined to identify the person of interest.
The sheriff said the Uvalde warrant was issued for the offenses of possession and failure to appear.
Burgi was found dead after being shot multiple times early Monday morning. His body was discovered lying in the roadway at the intersection of Las Brisas Boulevard and Sundance Kid Trail in the Sundance Estates area of the county north of Del Rio. The sheriff said he was notified of the murder about 2 a.m. Monday.
Martinez said today an autopsy has been performed, and the medical examiner’s office in Laredo has confirmed the cause of death as gunshot wounds. The sheriff declined to elaborate how many times Burgi was shot.
Martinez also declined to speak about the relationship between Burgi and the person of interest being detained by the sheriff’s office.
Asked about the circumstances surrounding the murder, Martinez said, “We believe that all of the events unfolded there at the intersection.”
The sheriff also said his investigators have “recovered some items” relevant to the case, but added, “As I said, this case is still in its very early stages, and we are still actively investigating a number of leads.”
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