DNA evidence from a cigarette butt found at the scene of a fatal shooting in May has been linked to a man jailed in the beating of two children, Dallas police said Thursday.
Rico Lara, 31, has been charged with capital murder in the death of a security guard May 14 at an illegal gaming room in the Stemmons Corridor.
Lara has been in the Dallas County Jail since May 20 on two counts of injury to a child after police said he beat two young relatives for breaking his phone, police records show.
Authorities say Lara and a second suspect known as “Primo” shot and killed 43-year-old Donald William Kovar during a 7 a.m. robbery at the gaming room in the 4600 block of Irving Boulevard, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Lara and “Primo” were sitting at one of the machines in the business before they shot Kovar and robbed another employee, police said. A cigarette butt was found near the machine, and DNA evidence from the cigarette was matched to Lara, police records show.
After the shooting, Lara and the second suspect took a recording machine that was used to save surveillance footage, police said. A cable from the machine was also at the scene. Evidence from that cable was also matched to Lara, the warrant says.
Witnesses to the shooting identified Lara from a photo lineup as the man who was with “Primo” during the fatal robbery, police records show. Lara’s bail has been set at $550,000 for the capital murder charges and two counts of injury to a child.
Police described the second suspect as a Hispanic male, between 30 and 35 years old, about 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call Dallas police at 214-671-3684 or Crime Stoppers at 214-373-8477. A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment.
