Shooting death update

ECTOR COUNTY More than a day after the fatal shooting of Rey Valdez near a home north of Odessa, the sheriff's office has released little new information on the circumstances or potential suspects in his death.

The 20-year-old was found wounded early Thursday morning in a yard at 7305 Hughes Lane with a gunshot wound in his upper left arm and chest, caused by a single bullet according to information from the Ector County Sheriff's Office. He was taken by ambulance to the Medical Center Hospital, where he died later that morning.

Sgt. Gary Duesler said they are speculating that it stemmed from an argument, but he did not release any names or motives.

"The investigation is continuing," Duesler said. "It's one of those things where you want to fast forward to the end... we have to do the full show... it does take time. It's frustrating for us."

Meanwhile, Robert Hernandez, who calls himself Valdez' best friend for four years, described a man who was a skilled plumber, carpenter, builder and handyman who was raising a 2-year-old while expecting a second child with his wife Ashley. Valdez also had a little brother, Gonzalo, who is 18.

"I don't know if you ever heard the phrase wasted talent," Hernandez said late Thursday. "Rey was a 20 year old prodigy when it came to building houses, plumbing... he could do it all, that's the kind of person Rey was."

Hernandez, who did not witness the shooting, said he was speaking with Valdez's mother as well as several neighbors following the shooting. From what they told him, he alleged that Valdez was shot twice, rather than once as the Sheriff's office reported.

Hernandez also alleged that Valdez and his father-in-law, Dwain Barina, were fighting in the yard approximately half an hour before the shooting. He said the fight was broken up when a neighbor ran into the yard and pulled Valdez off of Barina.

Duesler said he did not hear Barina's name mentioned by the investigators and said he would have to wait for the autopsy report to be completed on Valdez before he could confirm or deny Hernandez's claim on the number of shots that struck Valdez. Medical examiner Carl Rogers declined comment, saying he also couldn't comment on a criminal investigation before the autopsy was completed.

Valdez's body will be taken to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office in Fort Worth Saturday morning for the autopsy.