Rigo Anthony Bautista-Dominguez, a 16-year-old Hispanic male from Austin, Texas, died of a gunshot wound to the neck on May 5, 2021. Authorities classified his death as a homicide after investigators traced the killing to a drug transaction that went wrong.

A 16-year-old suspect shot Bautista-Dominguez during the deal, then transported his body to Bell County and abandoned it in the trunk of a car. The suspect was arrested on May 6, 2021, and later charged with murder. During the subsequent juvenile jury trial in Travis County, the jury found the suspect guilty of murder and of transporting and abandoning the body. Evidence introduced at trial included the suspect’s confessed admission to a young woman who reported it, bloody clothing and a necklace belonging to Bautista-Dominguez found under the suspect’s bed, and DNA analysis linking the blood to the victim; the defense sought to discredit the woman’s testimony.

Family and friends remember Bautista-Dominguez as a beloved brother, friend, and community member. Did anyone in Austin or Bell County recognize signs that could help explain how this transaction turned deadly?