Pair Charged With Capital Murder of Man Beaten and Left for Dead Near Northwest Dallas Trail

Two Dallas men have been jailed on murder charges in connection with the death of a man who was beaten and robbed in northwest Dallas earlier this month.Bryan Hernandez, 22, and Edward Hidrogo, 18, were jailed on charges of aggravated robbery the day after the beating. Capital murder charges were added May 21, after the victim died of his injuries.Police say the pair robbed and beat David Rhodes, 59, leaving him with his shirt pulled over his head at a pavilion near the Trinity River in northwest Dallas. Blood covered the ground, and was spattered on Rhodes' vehicle which was parked nearby, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.A witness told police that he'd seen two men beating the victim in a car parked off Wildwood Drive, near Loop 12 and State Highway 114, then fleeing in a white vehicle.Officers stopped Hernandez and Rhodes around 3 a.m., traveling in a similar vehicle near Webb Chapel Road and Walnut Hill Lane. They saw dried blood on Hidrogo's hands and and the vehicle's seats, but released the men when they said they'd been in a bar fight, according to the affidavit.Police confronted Hernandez at his home near Marsh Lane and Forest Lane, and he agreed to let them search his vehicle, according to the affidavit. Under a seat, they found Rhodes' vehicle key.Hernandez's father also gave officers Rhodes' wallet and an identification card, police said. They also found Rhodes' cellphone, a bloodied shirt and $380 in cash in the living room, where Hernandez had been sleeping.Hernandez told officers that he was at the park with Hidrogo on the day of the robbery but that Hidrogo was the only one who beat Rhodes.Both men were booked into the Dallas County jail May 18.Rhodes was taken off life support and pronounced dead around 10:30 a.m. May 21. Both Hernandez and Hidrogo remained in the Dallas County jail Tuesday afternoon, with bail set at $850,000.  Continue reading...