AUSTIN, Texas — A man is now facing capital murder charges in connection with a double homicide in southeast Austin after he was arrested following an AMBER Alert on Monday.
In an update on Tuesday afternoon, Austin Police Department (APD) officials said officers responded to the 1800 block of Burton Drive at around 7:40 a.m. on Oct. 14. There, they found two people – later identified as Brian Florentino Flores Alvarez and Francis Kaina Anseume Corredor – dead in a car with apparent gunshot wounds.
Homicide Det. Matthew Jones said Flores Alvarez lived at 1805 Burton Drive and had received a call to meet Anseume Corredor, whom he was dating, in the parking lot. Surveillance video showed Anseume Corredor's white GMC SUV pulling into the parking lot at around 2:50 a.m. Then, at approximately 3:25 a.m., a gray SUV pulled up behind the GMC and a man was seen getting out of the Mitsubishi and approaching the passenger side of the GMC.
Police later determined the second vehicle was a silver Mitsubishi Outlander belonging to Anseume Corredor's common-law husband, Sherles Machado-Hernandez.
Investigators also learned that Anseume Corredor had three children who were unaccounted for, two of whom are also Machado-Hernandez's children. A records check revealed that Anseume Corredor had an active Child Protective Service (CPS) case involving Machado-Hernandez, and later investigation confirmed that a forensic interview with the child victim was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 15, prior to the double murder.
Homicide Det. Randy DeLuna said Machado-Hernandez had taken the children out of their current schools on Friday, Oct. 11, and provided a new address for them in Niederwald. Anseume Corredor, Machado-Hernandez and all three children had been living at that address, and DeLuna said there is no indication that the couple was separated.
Once police learned the children were unaccounted for, the primary focus of the investigation turned to their well-being and investigators checked all the addresses on record for Anseume Corredor, Machado-Hernandez and the children. They were unable to locate the kids, Machado-Hernandez or his Mitsubishi, so a statewide AMBER Alert was issued.
Within an hour of that alert, family members informed police that Machado-Hernandez had dropped the children off with them at a residence on Decker Lane. At that time, he also abandoned his Mitsubishi, leaving the scene in a gray Toyota Highlander with Illinois license plates.
While it's not clear exactly how long Machado-Hernandez had the children, DeLuna said the kids were unaccounted for from 3:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday. CPS is now handling their placement.
With the children found safe, police continued to search for Machado-Hernandez and the Toyota Highlander. At around 6:35 p.m., officers spotted the Highlander pulling up to an apartment complex off Wickersham Lane. The driver of that vehicle, later identified as one of Machado-Hernandez's brothers, got out and ran to a black Kia SUV that police say returned to a completely different vehicle in a different color.
Undercover officers continued to conduct surveillance on the Kia and followed it to another nearby apartment complex, where the driver met with another person, also identified as one of Machado-Hernandez's brothers, before driving off again.
Undercover officers, with the assistance of APD's Air 1 unit, continued to follow the Kia until they were able to conduct a stop. The Kia yielded in a residential neighborhood without a pursuit, and officers arrested Machado-Hernandez after finding him hiding in the backseat of the car. The driver of the Kia was detained but has not been charged at this time.
Police say they are working to determine how Machado-Hernandez was able to locate Anseume Corredo at Flores Alvarez's residence on Burton Drive.
During Tuesday's update, Police Chief Lisa Davis called Machado-Hernandez "a coward who killed the mother of his children and left three children motherless." She also commended the work of APD officers and their statewide partners, as well as the effectiveness of the AMBER Alert system, which she said "worked exactly how it's supposed to" in this case.
This investigation remains ongoing and is in its early stages.