4 arrested in beating death of Austin teenager

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Four people have been arrested in last weekend's beating death of a 16-year-old boy in an Austin neighborhood.

Christina Reynero, 35, her son Juan Jose Reynero, 17, and Arthur Estrada III, 18, are charged with murder, a first-degree felony, in the death of Jorge Louis Medina Jr. on Friday, along with an unidentified juvenile, age 14.

According to the arrest warrant affidavits released Tuesday, the four were part of an attack that included sticks, boards and a pole used against Medina.

Juan Jose Reynero is a student at Crockett High School.

Police were called to the 2000 block of Uphill Lane just after 6 p.m. Thursday when neighbors reported that several people were beating the boy in the streets. According to the affidavit, Medina tried to run away and make it back to his car, but fell to the ground where three males attacked and beat him until he went limp.

"I couldn't even imagine any person having no heart to do that to my nephew," said Helen Rivera, Medina's aunt. "They said they had metal bats. They had pipes. They had boards and then they said that when my nephew was already dead in the street. Even 6-, 7-year-old, 8-year-old children were actually hitting him with sticks and rocks and stuff."

By the time the police arrived, the crowd had scattered. But they were called about a half hour later to Dell Children's Hospital where Medina was being treated for life-threatening injuries to his head. Medina died from the multiple blunt force trauma around 1:30 a.m. Friday.

Witnesses led police to the four suspects. They told police that several people, including females, continued to beat Medina even after he had been knocked unconscious, at least 12 times after he was knocked out, including being kicked in the head by the 14-year-old boy.

The Medina family believes more arrests should be made.

"We're seeing how far this is going to go and see if they can get these people that did this to him," said Ernesto Ramirez, the father of Medina's girlfriend, Anna, who witnessed the beating and tried to stop it.

Four females allegedly were fighting with Anna before the crowd attacked Medina. She got away and drove her car toward the crowd that was beating up on Medina, and in the process, struck Christina Reynero, who later was treated at St. David's Hospital.

Anna and other friends took Medina to the hospital, according to police.

Family members believe Jorge was jumped by an angry mob over an earlier argument between his mother and another woman.

"This was between me and her -- not my son -- my son had nothing to do with this," said Jorge's mother, Maria Huitron. "This was between me and her. This was no fight. They jumped my son. He loved everybody and we loved him. He was a good kid."

Police are also investigating a fire at the home where some of the suspects in the beating lived.

All three of the adults arrested remain in Travis County Jail.