Welcome to Arrest Stories. A seventeen-year-old Houston teen was arrested for allegedly helping his father move a dead body and burn it in a pickup truck on Christmas Day. Here's what may have happened.
On Christmas Day in Harris County, Texas, what started as two men hanging out ended in tragedy and alleged cover-up involving a father and son. Twenty-five-year-old Juan Francisco Benitez was found dead with a gunshot wound inside a burning truck in the eleven hundred block of Fellows Road in Houston.
According to investigators, the deadly chain of events began at the home of Ernesto Bustamante, where he and Benitez were spending time together. The two men got into an argument that escalated when Ernesto allegedly shot and killed Benitez.
What happened next allegedly involved Ernesto's seventeen-year-old son, Santiago Bustamante. Authorities say Santiago helped his father move Benitez's body to a location in the ten thousand block of Fellows Road near Del Papa Street. The father and son then allegedly dumped both the body and the truck before setting them on fire.
The location where the burning truck was discovered was just down the way from where Ernesto Bustamante lives, according to investigators. Authorities found the burning vehicle with Benitez's body inside on Christmas Day.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office worked to piece together the events that led to the grisly discovery. On Monday, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced that Santiago Bustamante had been charged in connection with the case.
Santiago Bustamante faces charges of tampering with evidence and tampering with a human corpse for his alleged role in helping move and dispose of Benitez's body after the shooting. His father Ernesto Bustamante was also arrested in connection with the case.
The investigation revealed how a Christmas Day argument between two acquaintances allegedly spiraled into murder and an attempted cover-up involving multiple family members.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.