A 23-year-old man was charged by authorities in Texas with capital murder in relation to the murder of three women in the coastal resort community of South Padre Island. He has also been charged with assault family violence.
The accused, Yordi Barthelemy, was charged with having fatally shot the three women Saturday night. The incident came to light after responding police officers rushed to respond to calls intimating them of a family disturbance at a condominium on the resort island at about 10 p.m. Saturday. When officers reached the spot, they found three women, aged 46, 47, and 65, were lying dead apparently from gunshots.
South Padre Island comprises a small community on a barrier island with the same name, off the southern coast of Texas near the Mexican border.
Authorities have not yet released the identities of the three women but have confirmed them to be members of the same family. The deceased were from the Houston area.
Police also did not say anything about the relation of the three women with Barthelemy or about the motive behind the murders. Police, however, confirmed that Barthelemy is from Kerens, a small city southeast of Dallas and about an hour’s drive away from Dallas. Interestingly, that place is more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of South Padre Island where the murders took place.
No information about what Barthelemy was doing so far away from his home in South Padre Island was provided by police.
Reports suggested that Barthelemy had allegedly fled the scene of crime initially but later contacted officials to authorities turn himself in. Police arrested him in Port Isabel, just across the water from South Padre Island. He is currently being held without bond.
