On the morning of October 14, the tranquility of Burton Drive in Austin was shattered by an act of violence that claimed the lives of two individuals. According to official reports, the Austin Police Department (APD) received a distressing call shortly after 7 a.m., leading officers to discover Francis Anseume-Corredo and Bryan Flores Alvarez with fatal gunshot wounds in a parked vehicle. The victims, both of Hispanic descent, were pronounced dead at the scene by 8:00 a.m.
Detectives and Crime Scene Specialists were dispatched to ferret out the truth behind the shooting. Their investigation was aided by surveillance footage from a nearby complex, which showed a silver SUV, at around 3:25 a.m., believed to be driven by Sherles Machado-Hernandez, the common-law husband of one of the victims. The footage captures Machado-Hernandez approaching the GMC where the two were found, before later fleeing in his Mitsubishi Outlander. In the aftermath, an Amber alert was issued to quickly find the three children of Anseume-Corredo, two of whom are Machado-Hernandez's, as their whereabouts were momentarily unknown.
The urgent search for Machado-Hernandez ended without further violence. A coordinated response from numerous APD units and the Department of Public Safety succeeded in securely apprehending the suspect in north Austin. As reported by the Austin Police Department, Machado-Hernandez was arrested and charged with Capital Murder following a traffic stop—a swift culmination to a day-long manhunt.
Authorities are continuing to appeal to the public for any information related to this case—the city's 51st and 52nd homicides of the year. Those with knowledge that might shed further light are encouraged to step forward. The hotline for the Austin Police Department is 512-974-TIPS, and the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program offers a way to submit tips anonymously at austincrimestoppers.org or through their phone line at 512-472-8477. Shared details could be paramount in piecing together a crime that has left a community grappling with loss and seeking justice.
