‘Didn’t want him talking to his girlfriend’: Four high school students are accused of kidnapping and torturing a classmate at gunpoint

In her report for CBS Austin, Farrah Walton described a case so violent and disturbing that even students at Del Valle High School said they could hardly believe it happened in their own orbit. The allegations center on four 17-year-olds accused of kidnapping and torturing a classmate in February in southeast Travis County, in what investigators say was a planned attack tied to a dispute over a girl.

Walton’s report makes clear that this was not described as a sudden fight or a chaotic argument that spiraled out of control. According to arrest affidavits, investigators believe the victim was lured away from school, taken to a home, restrained at gunpoint, beaten, burned, threatened, and then dropped off somewhere else after the assault.

That sequence is what gives the case its weight. These accusations describe not just violence, but a deliberate ordeal, one that authorities say involved multiple people, a firearm, and a setting where the victim was effectively trapped.

For students who heard about it afterward, the shock was obvious. Walton spoke with Del Valle High student J’Kaideon Mitchell, who said he thought it was “insane,” especially because, as he put it, “we never have anything super crazy like that.”

That kind of reaction matters because it captures how a case like this lands in a school community. Even when the alleged attack happened off campus, it still sends fear through hallways, classrooms, and friendships, especially when the people involved are students or former students who know one another.

Investigators Say the Victim Was Lured Away

According to Walton’s report, the incident began on February 19, when the victim left Del Valle High School with three classmates and went to a gas station across the street. From there, investigators say, the group drove to a home in the 13300 block of FM 969.

The victim told investigators he believed they were going to get pizza, according to the affidavits. Instead, Walton reported, they took him to a home where a fourth suspect was waiting, and once inside a detached garage, the situation escalated quickly.

That detail alone makes the case feel more calculated. A trip framed as something ordinary allegedly became the setup for a violent attack, and prosecutors will almost certainly pay close attention to that if the case moves forward in a major way.

Walton said Travis County Sheriff’s Office investigators believe that once the victim was in the garage, one of the suspects held a gun to the back of his head while the others used duct tape to bind his hands and feet and cover his mouth.

At that point, according to the affidavits, the victim was no longer just in danger. He was under the control of multiple people in an enclosed place, with a deadly weapon involved and, by his account, no obvious way out.

That is why the charge here is so serious. This is not being treated as a school disciplinary matter or even a typical assault case. The suspects are facing aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon, which is a first-degree felony.

Beatings, Threats, and a Gunpoint Ordeal

Walton’s report lays out allegations that become more disturbing the further the affidavits go.

The victim told investigators he was beaten with aluminum bats, a walking cane, and a belt while the suspects took turns holding him at gunpoint. He also said he was burned, forced to drink alcohol, and repeatedly threatened.

According to Walton, the victim told investigators he believed he would be killed.

That is an important detail, because in cases like this, fear is not some side note to the physical violence. It is central to the crime itself. If someone is tied up, held at gunpoint, attacked with blunt objects, and threatened with death, the psychological terror becomes part of the punishment.

The affidavits also say the suspects warned him not to go to police and threatened harm to him and his family. If true, that would suggest the violence did not end when the beating stopped. It followed him afterward, through fear and intimidation, in the hope that he would stay silent.

Walton also reported that the assault was allegedly recorded by one of the suspects. That detail is especially grim because it suggests the attack may not only have been planned, but also treated as something to document rather than hide in the moment.

There is something deeply ugly about that possibility. It points not just to violence, but to a kind of coldness that is hard to ignore, especially given the ages of the people accused.

A Motive Investigators Say Came Down to a Girl

According to the affidavits cited in Walton’s report, investigators say the victim was told the attack happened because one of the suspects did not want him talking to his girlfriend.

That alleged motive makes the case even more disturbing, not because jealousy is rare, but because of how wildly out of proportion the response appears to have been. If the affidavits are accurate, this was not a spontaneous outburst rooted in teenage immaturity. It was an organized act of humiliation and violence built around personal control.

Walton reported that during follow-up interviews, at least some of the suspects admitted to planning and carrying out the attack, telling investigators it had been discussed about a week in advance.

If that account holds up, it could become one of the most important facts in the case. Planning changes everything. It moves the story away from a heat-of-the-moment confrontation and toward something much harder to explain away.

And frankly, that is the part that makes the case so chilling. Allegations of teenage violence are sadly not unheard of, but allegations of kidnapping, restraint, torture, threats, and prior planning suggest something far more serious than school drama gone too far.

The Victim Escaped and Reported What Happened

Walton said the victim was eventually driven to another location and left there before making his way to a bus stop and later reporting the attack.

That part of the story is easy to miss because the earlier allegations are so severe, but it is actually one of the most important. Reporting a crime like this after enduring it would take an enormous amount of nerve, especially if the victim had been threatened and left believing that his attackers might follow through on those threats.

J’Kaideon Mitchell spoke to that in Walton’s report when he said it was “crazy” to think about how strong the victim would have had to be to stay alive and then come forward.

That was one of the more human moments in the report, and it did not feel exaggerated. In cases involving young victims and peer violence, silence is often one of the strongest weapons the accused can hold over someone. The fact that this student reported what investigators say happened may end up being the reason the case moves forward at all.

Walton also noted that investigators documented extensive injuries, including bruising and contusions across the victim’s back, chest, and legs that were said to be consistent with blunt-force trauma.

That physical evidence could become a key part of the prosecution’s case, because it gives investigators something beyond statements alone. Allegations this severe often rise or fall on whether the evidence supports the story in a concrete way.

The Four Teens Charged and the School District’s Response

Walton identified the four suspects as Jose Rojas-Alvarado, Oscar Armando Santiago-Martinez, Angel Lemus-Perez, and Carlos Roberto Oliva-Villeda, all 17 years old. Each is facing a charge of aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon.

Court records, Walton added, also show that Lemus-Perez is facing a charge of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Del Valle ISD told CBS Austin that the four accused are not currently enrolled in the district. In its statement, the district said it was aware of the reports of an off-campus incident involving former students, that the Travis County Sheriff’s Office was actively investigating, and that student and staff safety remained its top priority.

That statement is careful and limited, which is typical in an active case, but it also reflects the difficult position districts face when a story like this reaches the public. Even if the event happened away from school grounds and involved former students, the community still feels it as a school story because the people involved are tied to the same classrooms and social circles.

Walton’s reporting captured that unease well. Mitchell said students were “pretty spooked,” especially classmates who had shared classes with some of those accused.

That reaction is understandable. A case like this leaves behind more than arrests and court paperwork. It leaves a school community trying to process how people they thought they knew could be tied to allegations this brutal.

A Case Still Under Investigation

As Farrah Walton reported, the case remains under investigation, which means the criminal process is still in its early stages and the allegations have yet to be tested in court.

Still, even at this stage, the accusations are severe enough to stand out. According to the affidavits described in the CBS Austin report, this was an alleged kidnapping planned in advance, carried out by multiple teens, and fueled by a personal grievance that spiraled into something much darker.

That is what makes the story so unsettling. It is not only the violence that shocks people, but the structure of it — the alleged setup, the isolation, the restraint, the weapon, the threats, and the claim that it was all done over a relationship dispute.

Walton did not overstate the case, and she did not need to. The reported facts are already strong enough to explain why students are rattled and why this case is drawing so much attention.

For now, the legal system will decide what can be proven. But in the meantime, the report leaves behind a hard truth that is difficult to shake: a classmate said he was lured away, tortured, and threatened by people he knew, and the allegations are so serious that an entire school community is left trying to understand how something like this could happen so close to home.