Police used social media and phone data to arrest a 19-year-old man in connection with a June 14 fatal shooting that occurred after a backyard party in Dallas’ Pleasant Grove neighborhood, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The 19-year-old suspect was arrested on Sept. 2 and faces a murder charge in connection with the death of Isaiah Hernandez, 18.
According to the affidavit, Dallas police officers were dispatched to a shooting call shortly before 2 a.m. to a house in the 400 block of North Masters Drive. Once there, police determined a large party had taken place in the backyard.
A witness told officers Hernandez had been “beat up” by several people before the incident and provided to police Instagram accounts for who he thought knew the shooter.
The suspect was known to Dallas police because of the suspect’s ties to a string of robbery offenses, according to the affidavit. Officers also determined one of the Instagram accounts belonged to him, and he had been arrested by Arlington police in 2025.
Using Instagram data provided through a search warrant, police found pictures and videos of a pistol with a gold automatic switch sent from the suspect to a group chat. The affidavit also said the 19-year-old had denied online accusations that he’d been the shooter.
Officers learned from other witness statements there had been three gunshots in succession, leading them to believe the suspect had used a switch meant to make the gun fire automatically. Multiple witnesses also identified the 19-year-old as the shooter, the affidavit said.
In July, detectives received T-Mobile data for the suspect’s phone, showing he’d been in the area of the shooting between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m.
Phone and social media data, witness accounts, and pictures and videos shared of the pistol led police to arrest the 19-year-old.
As of Sunday, he remains in the Dallas County jail with bail set at $400,000, according to jail records.