El Paso man arrested on murder charges in Rock City bar shooting

An arrest has been made in connection with a shooting that occurred more than three months ago outside the Rock City Bar & Grill on the East Side that left an El Paso man dead and three other people injured, police officials said.

On June 28, the U.S. Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested Devonte Lamar Minter, 26, of Far East El Paso, on an outstanding warrant for murder. The warrant was part of an ongoing investigation by the police Crimes Against Persons Unit.

Minter remains on $500,000 bail at the El Paso County Jail in downtown El Paso. No attorney is listed for him in court documents.

Police said Minter is accused of participating in the shooting death of 37-year-old Mario Daniel Avalos on March 16 outside the Rock City Bar & Grill at 2285 Trawood Drive, near Lee Trevino Drive.

Avalos was a loving son, twin brother, father and youth softball coach. His twin brother Benjamin tragically passed away in 2022, his family told Channel 7-KVIA.

“Mario was loved by so many wherever he went, always full of life and loved to make everyone smile and laugh. He will be forever missed,” his family said on a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral costs.

1 killed, 3 wounded in shooting

The bar owner told 14-KFOX that Avalos was working that night helping set up the lighting and sound system for a musical act at the bar. He added that extra security was hired and that everything went smoothly.

At about 2:15 a.m., shots were fired outside the bar, wounding four people, including Avalos, who died at an El Paso hospital. The others wounded in the shooting were identified by police as Rashad Dantron Allen, 28, of Fort Bliss, and Ariel De Asha Brown, 28, and Giuliani Martin, 20, both of Central El Paso.

Kills 2024: New details in El Paso aspiring rapper’s death in drug-related parking lot shooting

The investigation is still ongoing and police officials have not released details about what led to the shooting.

Anyone with information about the Rock City Bar shooting can call the police tip line at 915-832-4400 or Crime Stoppers of El Paso anonymously at 915-566-8477 (TIPS).