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2 Po'Boys arrested in Jan. 1 Little Mexico slayingJan 03, 2013 (The Monitor - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Two men remained behind bars Wednesday afternoon after the New Year's Day slaying of a rival gang member in the Little Mexico neighborhood south of Alamo. And in a separate case that was investigated as the new year began, the Sheriff's Office determined a gun death at a home near Palmview to be a suicide. On Wednesday, the Sheriff's Office's gang unit arrested Po'Boys gang members Jose Garcia, 20, and Daniel Cruz, 17, for the killing of Miguel Angel Padilla, 21, records show. The men were arrested near the Executive Motel, by the intersection of Moore Road and South Cage Boulevard, where investigators had been following them through a surveillance operation. The slaying took place about 2 a.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of San Angelo Street in the South Tower Estates area of rural Alamo. The Po'Boys and the South Side Bandidos had been holding parties across the street from each other when Padilla got into an argument with Garcia and Cruz. It escalated to a shooting in which, according to witnesses, the two Po'Boys fired an Ak-47 and a handgun at Padilla. An acquaintance rushed Padilla to McAllen Medical Center, where he died of his gunshot wounds. Justice of the Peace Homer Jasso arrived at the hospital to pronounce Padilla dead and ordered an autopsy. The killing highlights an ongoing rivalry between the South Side Bandidos and the Po'Boys, which operate in the South Tower Estates area. It's a part of the county where Sheriff Lupe Trevino's gang unit is working to crack down on illegal activity as well as reach out to young children to educate them about the dangers of a gang lifestyle. "I am very glad to have gotten these two dangerous gangsters off the street and in jail where they belong," Trevino said in a written statement. -- Ildefonso Ortiz covers courts, law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at [email protected] and (956) 683-4437. -- ___ (c)2013 The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) Visit The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) at www.themonitor.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |