3 Violent Suspects Arrested on Charges of Attempted Capital Murder

SWEETWATER – The Sweetwater Police Department has arrested three suspects in connection to a shooting investigation.

According to the Sweetwater Police Department, on Friday, July 15, 2022, at approximately 11:19 p.m., Sweetwater Police officers responded to a call of a subject shot in front of a residence on Hill Street. Upon checking the area, officers were unable to locate an injured subject.

On July 16, 2022, at approximately 2:00 a.m., a subject entered the lobby of the Sweetwater Police Department and stated that her ex-boyfriend, 26-year-old Joshua Coronado, had been shot at a residence on the 100 block of Fisher Street. Responding officers found blood on the street and porch as well as in the yard. Officers were unable to locate a victim at the residence.

Later that morning, officers were dispatched to Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital in Sweetwater after a man was located sitting in front of a house located near County Road 216 in Nolan County. The man, who was identified as Josh Coronado, suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Coronado was transferred to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene. The victim survived his injuries and was released from the hospital

Detectives returned to the scene on CR 216 and located a dried blood trail from the roadthrough the ditch on the east side of the road, leading to a barbed wire fence. The trail continued into an open pasture where detectives located a large pool of dried blood under the brush where Coronado’s body was dumped.

During the course of the investigation and through several interviews, police were able to determine that a physical altercation began between Joshua Coronado and a subject identified as Timothy Hernandez. During the course of the altercation, Hernandez obtained possession of a firearm and shot Coronado in the head.

Investigators determined Timothy Hernandez, Andres Diaz, and Christopher Kirkland then loaded Coronado’s body in the bed of a stolen pickup truck and drove to CR 216 where they dumped his body into the brush. Timothy Hernandez, Christopher Kirkland, and Andres Diaz are charged with Attempted Captial Murder and Tampering with Evidence and booked in the Nolan County Jail.

The investigation is ongoing and additional suspects could be charged at a later time.