AT&T Stadium shooting suspect charged with murder

The suspect in last week’s AT&T Stadium shooting has been formally charged by Tarrant County with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Marvin Rodriguez, 28, remained in jail Monday morning, according to district clerk records.

Rodriguez was arrested last Sunday after Arlington police accused him of shooting 43-year-old Rick Sells during a fight in the parking lot of AT&T Stadium after the Dallas Cowboys played the New England Patriots.

Sells died of a gunshot wound to the neck late Wednesday night at Harris Hospital in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office. Sells’ death prompted an upgrading of one of Rodriguez’s expected charges from aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury to murder.

Rodriguez, of Dallas, will make his initial Tarrant County court appearance Nov. 2 at 9 a.m., according to the district clerk’s online records.

Sells, a recently engaged soon-to-be father, was shot during a fight in Lot 10 of the stadium parking lot about 8:20 p.m., nearly two hours after the Cowboys lost to the Patriots.

Before Sells was shot, police said, Rodriguez had held a gun to the head of Lester Peters of Lufkin. Rodriguez let Peters go but got involved in a second fight a minute later and shot Sells. Officers were called to the scene as a brawl was breaking out between tailgaters just minutes before stadium parking lots closed.

A public police report Monday said Rodriguez, “knowingly and intentionally placed a gun to victim’s head in a threatening manner, causing the suspect to be in fear of life and fired the gun causing serious bodily injury to the victim.”

Weapons are prohibited by state law at stadiums during sporting events.

A GoFundMe donations page for Sells had raised more than $20,000 as of Monday morning.

“For whatever time God has for me left on this earth, I will miss seeing his beautiful little face, hearing [his] precious words, missing his arms hugging me, saying, ‘I love you sister,’ ” Sells’ sister Victoria Gunning wrote on Facebook. “So one last time, to everyone out there, I am so grateful for your love and respect and prayers for him.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 8:10 AM with the headline "AT&T Stadium shooting suspect charged with murder."