Thousands of people are standing by two Texas brothers and their friend, who were arrested for allegedly beating their stepfather to death for sexually abusing their sister.
The Change.org petition asks that the brothers, 18-year-old Alejandro Trevino, 17-year-old Christian Trevino, and their friend, 18-year-old Juan Eduardo Melendez be released from jail. The three were apprehended after the body of the stepfather, 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla, body was found in a field last week.
Christian and Melendez have since been charged with capital murder and aggravated assault, as well as engaging in organized criminal activity. Alejandro was given aggravated assault and engaging in organized criminal activity charges.
As of this writing, over 275,000 people have signed the petition, which has a goal of reaching 300,000 signatures. The online petition says, “The three teenagers are currently in custody and have their bonds set at over 1 million dollars each. If convicted of capital murder, they face a minimum sentence of life imprisonment without parole.”
It continues, “We ask that the state of Texas to release these teenagers, who could possibly spend the rest of their life in prison for protecting their sister.”
The brothers confronted their stepfather after finding out that he had abused their 9-year-old sister. The three first fought at a trailer park with Melendez later joining the brawl. They then left and came upon Quintanilla again while he was walking on a road. They allegedly beat him again, this time with brass knuckles, tossed him into the bed of their truck, and dumped the body.
The stepfather endured head trauma, and according to KWTX, he may have been alive when he was thrown in the field. Quintanilla also apparently had another arrest warrant out for him sexual assaulting a different child.
A second Change.org petition has also been launched, which has reached over 42,000 signatures as of this writing.
