SWEETWATER, Texas — UPDATE (Aug. 26): Odessa police arrested Joshua Coronado, on an assault charge and as of Friday night, he's sitting in the Nolan County Jail.
Police say this all started back in July, when Coronado got into a fight with three other men. That's when one of those men shot him in the head.
The three men then dumped his body and left him for dead. Authorities eventually found Coronado and he was taken to the hospital where he was treated and released.
The three other men face charges of attempted capital murder.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Sweetwater Police Department announced Tuesday three suspects have been arrested in connection to a shooting investigation.
The SPD said late Friday, July 15, 2022, officers responded to a call of a person who had been shot in front of a home on Hill Street, but weren't able to find anyone.
Early the next morning, a woman went into the SPD lobby and told officers her ex-boyfriend, Joshua Coronado, 26, had been shot at a home on Fisher Street. Responding officers found blood on the street, porch and yard, but didn't find a victim there.
Later the same morning, officers were dispatched to Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital after a man was found sitting in front of a house near County Road 216 in Nolan County. The man, identified as Coronado, had a gunshot wound to the head. He was transferred to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.
Detectives went to the scene on CR 216 and found a dried blood trail from the road through the ditch on the east side of the road, leading to a barbed wire fence. The trail continued into an open pasture where detectives found a large pool of dried blood under the brush where Coronado’s body was dumped.
During the course of the investigation and through several interviews, police were able to determine a fight began between Coronado and a man, identified as Timothy Hernandez. During the fight, Hernandez obtained possession of a gun and shot Coronado in the head.
Investigators determined Hernandez, Andres Diaz and Christopher Kirkland then loaded Coronado’s body in the bed of a stolen pickup truck and drove to CR 216, where they dumped his body into the brush.
Hernandez, Kirkland and Diaz have been charged with attempted capital murder and tampering with evidence and were booked into the Nolan County Jail.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and more suspects could be charged at a later time.
