New Arrest Made in Pintucci Murder

Juan Antonio Cardenas (Photo courtesy Dallas County Jail)

Roughly 11 months after former Highland Park High School student Joseph Anthony Pintucci was gunned down in the Whole Foods parking garage at the Shops at Park Lane, Dallas police announced they had made another arrest.

Juan Antonio Cardenas, 19, was booked into the Dallas County jail on a charge of capital murder Dec. 19, and arraigned the next day. Bail was set at $500,000, but as of Dec. 27, Cardenas remains in jail.

Rene Eduardo Montanez, Jr., 23, was arrested as a suspect in the case just two days after the January 24, 2019 shooting, and was also charged with capital murder at that time.

The last time police provided an update on the case, it was to release a sketch of a second suspect in February. At the time, detectives indicated that this second suspect was believed to be the shooter.

He was described as a Latin male, between 18-19 years of age, 5-foot-6, 130 pounds, and in his mouth has a gold teeth grill with diamonds, and was wearing a grey hoodie and jeans. That second person may have fled in a 2005 black Chevy Tahoe. It is unclear if Cardenas is the person in the sketch.

In February, police said that two other people were inside the car during the shooting. Edited surveillance video showed at least three people walking toward Pintucci’s car before he was shot. The incident began on the video messaging app Snapchat.

Police also said Pintucci was communicating with one of the suspects on Snapchat to set up a drug deal.

Pintucci, 18, was found slumped over in the driver’s seat of a white 2002 Lincoln sedan. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died from his injuries. He was at one point a Highland Park High School student, but had transferred out, according to the school district, in 2018.

We will have more updates as they are available.

 

Bethany Erickson

Bethany Erickson, former Digital Editor at People Newspapers, cut her teeth on community journalism, starting in Arkansas. She's taken home a few awards for her writing, including first place for her tornado coverage from the National Newspapers Association's 2020 Better Newspaper Contest, a Gold award for Best Series at the 2018 National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism awards, a 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Award for Editorial Opinion from the Dallas Press Club, and a 2019 award from NAREE for a piece linking Medicaid expansion with housing insecurity. She is a member of the Education Writers Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Real Estate Editors, the News Leaders Association, the News Product Alliance, and the Online News Association. She doesn't like lima beans, black licorice or the word synergy.

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