Two men in Texas have been arrested for allegedly killing their 17-year-old friend in 2020, beating the victim and leaving him to die on the side of the road over a $10 debt. Bobby G. Tovar, Jr., 21, and Manuel Guzman-Escalante, 18, were taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of manslaughter each in the brutal slaying of Oscar Rangel, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Manslaughter is a second-degree felony in Texas punishable by up to 20 years in a state correctional facility.
Bobby G. Tovar and Manuel Guzman-Escalante (Bexar County Jail)
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by San Antonio Fox affiliate KABB, Rangel was at a friend’s house on the night of Dec. 30, 2020, and never returned home. His parents reported him missing the next morning and his body was found just hours later in an area located in the 400 block of South 2nd Avenue in Elmendorf.
Rangel was reportedly barefoot, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a T-shirt, and appeared to have been outside through a large portion of the winter night during which temperatures dropped to near-freezing.
Rangel’s body appeared to have been partially hidden and his bare feet were clean, leading investigators to believe that he had been killed elsewhere and then moved, San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT reported. Investigators also reportedly said that the 17-year-old had visible abrasions on his face and a toxicology screen showed that he tested positive for Flualprazolam, a central nervous system depressant that is “generally abused for its sedative/hypnotic effects” and are similar to clonazepam, per the DEA.
Police said that Rangel, Guzman-Escalante, and Tovar were all at a friend’s house in Elmendorf on the night of Dec. 30 where they consumed illegal drugs.
At some point during the night, Tovar reportedly became angry with Rangel over $10 that Rangel owed him. Later on, Rangel was seen “highly intoxicated” sleeping on the couch inside of the home, KSAT reported.
In June of this year, Tovar reportedly told investigators that he and Guzman-Escalante had left the home that evening and drove to San Antonio where they met up with a friend and spent the remainder of the night there. He also allegedly claimed to have no idea that Rangel had even been reported missing until the following day.
However, when police interviewed Guzman-Escalante the following day, he allegedly gave a different story, beginning by confirming that he and Tovar were the last two people to see Rangel alive, per KSAT. When pressed by detectives, Guzman-Escalante reportedly said that Tovar’s parents “are going to hate us” and that “this is going to f— me up” before allegedly revealing what happened to Rangel.
Guzman-Escalante reportedly explained that Tovar was filled with “rage” toward Rangel about the $10 Rangel owed him. On the night of Rangel’s death, Guzman-Escalante said he and Tovar put Rangel in the bed of Tovar’s pickup truck because Rangel had been “pissing” himself.
Guzman-Escalante reportedly claimed they were driving Rangel home when Tovar suddenly pulled into a parking lot and said he was “tired of this s—.” Tovar then pulled Rangel off the truck bed, brought him to the side of a house and began repeatedly punching an already intoxicated Rangel in the face.
Per KABB, Guzman-Escalante and Tovar then allegedly put Rangel’s body back in the car and dumped him in the secluded area off South 2nd Avenue, leaving him to die in the cold and be discovered the next day.
During the investigation, authorities also discovered text messages allegedly between Guzman-Escalante and Tovar from Jan. 6, 2021, in which Tovar told Guzman-Escalante, “We are getting questioned tomorrow and our stories don’t match and we need to match them.”
The duo are being held in the Bexar County Jail on $125,000 bond, records show. Guzman-Escalante is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 19 and Tovar on Dec. 22.
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