EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Two brothers suspected in the Sept. 27 fatal shooting of a migrant near Sierra Blanca, Texas, are no longer in jail in El Paso.
Mark and Michael Sheppard, both 60, were released from El Paso County Jail on Monday and taken to Hudspeth County Jail, where they remain in custody on charges of manslaughter, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed on Tuesday.
DPS did not say why the brothers were moved.
Michael Sheppard, a former warden at an immigration detention facility in Sierra Blanca, allegedly fired two shotgun shells on the evening of Sept. 27 into the brush where he thought he spotted a javelina, his brother Mark told the Texas rangers.
The shots killed a male migrant and wounded a female migrant who had stopped for water at a reservoir called Fivemile Tank, according to arrest affidavits. They were among a group of people who had also recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border; the migrants who were not shot told investigators someone used foul language in telling them to come out of the brush before the shots rang out.
The families of two migrants from Durango, Mexico, on Monday told reporters in Juarez they believe it was their relatives who were shot and are demanding justice. The Mexican consulate has confirmed the female victim is a Mexican citizen but is still awaiting official word from Texas officials as to the identity of the male victim.
DPS on Tuesday said the case remains under investigation and cannot share additional details at this time.