Man Killed Accidentally in NE Travis Co

Updated: Sunday, 01 Nov 2009, 12:30 PM CST
Published : Saturday, 31 Oct 2009, 6:49 PM CDT

(AUSTIN) - Friends and family gather outside the home of 29-year old Jorge Mondragon Sunday afternoon, just hours after his death.

"Tragic, very very tragic," says Jorge's cousin Alejandro Sanchez. He is still in shock at the news that the father of 2 seen in this photo is no longer alive. "It was a bullet that wasn't meant for him," says Sanchez.

According to arrest affidavits Mondragon was at his brother Leopoldo's house with a group of friends after a night out. Just before four in the morning a fight between two men broke out on the front porch of the house.. One of them was Orbelin Benitez.

Witnesses told authorities Benitez was intoxicated. Leopoldo, the victim's brother who didn't want to appear on camera, tells Fox 7 he was next to his brother when the other two men began to fight. Then, he heard a gunshot. Reports show Benitez and the man began to wrestle for the gun. The gun went off killing Jorge who was not involved in the fight. "Alcohol and guns don't mix, just poor judgment, alcohol impairs you and that was kind of like what happened," says Sanchez.

Following the shooting Leopoldo says everyone on the porch rushed out. Realizing what had just happened, he says he called 911, but even then he knew it was too late. Travis County Homicide detectives found the suspect's car and evidence linking him to the shooting. He was arrested shortly after. It's a sigh of relief for family members who say he didn't deserve to die. "[He was a] down to earth person, happy, loved by his family, his kids," says Sanchez.

Benitez is charged with murder and being held in the Travis County Jail on a $750,000 bond.