EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — A 41-year-old man who was arrested and charged with murder after authorities found a body in a dumpster fire in Central El Paso in May was indicted earlier this month.
According to court records obtained by KFOX14/CBS4, Heriberto Chavez was indicted on Aug. 5 on a murder charge, with the case moving forward to trial.
The indictment comes months after authorities found a dead man in the 900 block of N. Florence (behind the Kelly Center for Hunger Relief) after fire crews extinguished a dumpster fire.
According to the indictment, on May 29, Chavez “intentionally and knowingly caused the death” of a man now identified as Ray Alex Baldason by striking him on the head with his foot.
The indictment further alleges Chavez “did use or exhibit a deadly weapon and caused Baldason’s death by setting his body on fire.”
As KFOX14/CBS4 previously reported, Chavez was identified as the suspect after he was seen in surveillance video allegedly beating the victim and setting him on fire before leaving the scene, but forgetting his cellphone by the dumpster.
According to police documents previously obtained by KFOX14/CBS4, investigators described watching surveillance video that appears to show Chavez on his cellphone and walking towards the victim, who was lying down by the dumpster.
After the two shared an interaction, investigators said Chavez then allegedly placed his cellphone on the side railing/edge of the dumpster before he proceeded to punch, kick, and stomp the victim for several minutes, the documents state.
Investigators said Chavez then allegedly pulled out a piece of cardboard from the dumpster, covered the victim with it and then set it on fire, adding more trash from the dumpster to fuel the flames, according to the documents.
Investigators said that they found the cellphone inside the dumpster after it was knocked down into the trash when firefighters extinguished the fire.
Chavez was arrested a couple of days later, on Sunday, after investigators were in the area and stopped him and two other suspects because of an “open alcohol container.”
When investigators asked Chavez for his information, including his phone number, he told them he had lost his phone but gave them his number– which turned out to be the same number as the phone found in the dumpster.
Furthermore, investigators said Chavez also had injuries to his hands and confirmed he was wearing the same clothes as it was seen in the surveillance video.
Chavez was arrested on June 1, with a bond set at $1 million.
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