Isaias Sanchez Barbosa's death by Border Patrol remains unresolved 14 months later
Dec 11, 2025·Location: Starr County, TX
Country of origin: Mexico

On December 11, 2024, Border Patrol agent Armando Flores shot and killed Isaias Sanchez Barbosa, a 31-year-old Mexican man with no criminal history, no prior U.S. entries, and no family in the United States, during a struggle near the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas. A grand jury declined to indict Flores in June 2025, but Texas Rangers and federal investigators have kept the case open, and no body camera footage or complete official account has been released. An autopsy found three close-range gunshot wounds to Sanchez Barbosa's chest and forearm that fractured a rib and tore both lungs. A search of a nearby ranch, authorized by a warrant that went unfiled for months due to what officials called a clerical error, found no weapons, consistent with none being found on Sanchez Barbosa himself.
Sources
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