Two individuals linked to an auto theft ring in Bexar County have garnered additional suspicion in connection with a fatal home shooting from earlier in the year. Isaiah Perales, aged 20, and Bryan Salazar, aged 22, were among three arrests made this Thursday, as reported by KSAT. This arrest is part of a law enforcement operation targeting car thefts in the area, however, the charges may now also intersect with a much graver crime.
It's alleged that the same suspects are to potentially be tied to a heinous act of violence that took place on May 8, where a residence on the 6700 block of Windsor Hollow Drive was besieged by gunfire. According to an arrest warrant, these suspects might have used stolen cars to help commit other crimes. To elaborate on the tragic events of that day, a four-year-old girl, Mary Ann Marble, lost her life and her family members were seriously injured after two masked assailants unleashed over two dozen rounds into their home, outlined in a detailed report by KENS 5.
Law enforcement authorities have not yet charged anyone specifically with the shooting, but dramatic home surveillance footage released a few weeks following the incident has spurred an investigation pivot. This evidence, alongside a trail of numerous tips, has pointed to the involvement of Perales and Salazar, indicating they could be the ones who fired upon the house, intending to retaliate for the killing of Xavier Perez—a name familiar to Salazar—just weeks before.
In Bryan Salazar's case, he faces charges for tampering with evidence after detectives found he purportedly deleted messages and emails linking him to the May attack, while Perales' legal troubles find him accused of auto theft charges. The narrative seems to unravel more as Salazar's girlfriend, Jocelynn Guzman, 21, is alleged to have been in cahoot with the knowledge of the May shooting but has been charged for unrelated fraud crimes. This turns the lens even more intensely on these suspects, and authorities are now searching for 18-year-old Ashton Vara Garcia, another individual suspected of being involved in the car theft operations.
To connect the threads of this story, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar (no relation to Bryan) has hinted at broader implications. "What we're hoping for is that this may blow things wide open on a wider charge," he told KENS 5. Whether these speculations will solidify into charges that bring closure to the tragic Windsor Hollow shooting remains to be seen, but authorities have made it clear: this latest development in the auto theft case may be just the beginning of a much larger landscape of crime coming to light.
