Chad Eberle worked for multiple Texas agencies before Mexican authorities accused him of a deadly attack linked to a family dispute.
SAN ANTONIO — Chad Eberle spent years moving through Texas law enforcement agencies before his name appeared in an entirely different kind of official record: a Mexican criminal case accusing him of killing three people, critically wounding his son’s mother and fleeing toward the United States with their 3-year-old child.
The 35-year-old peace officer’s employment history has become part of the public interest surrounding the Aug. 4 killings in Saltillo, Mexico, even though his prior police work does not by itself prove any part of the criminal case. Records reported by Univision San Antonio show Eberle was licensed as a Texas peace officer in January 2017 and worked for several departments over roughly eight years. At the time of the killings, he was an unpaid reserve officer for the small Santa Anna Police Department. Mexican prosecutors, meanwhile, were building a case centered on alleged femicide and qualified homicide.
Eberle’s documented Texas career included the Northside Independent School District Police Department from 2017 into early 2019, followed by work for the Gregory Police Department between 2020 and 2021, according to records obtained by Univision. He later served with the Lockney Police Department and then the Bangs Police Department. Reporting also identified him as a former Bexar County Precinct 2 deputy constable. The records illustrate a career spread across school, municipal and constable law enforcement rather than long service with a single department.
His most recent affiliation was in Santa Anna, a small Texas community where officials said he joined the police department in November 2025 as an unpaid reserve officer. A city statement reported by Texas media said he generally worked one weekend a month and was on a personal leave of absence extending into December when authorities learned of the case in Mexico. Santa Anna officials said their police department contacted the U.S. Consulate and the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. The city declined further comment because Mexican authorities were still investigating.
Hundreds of miles away from those Texas agencies, Coahuila investigators say Eberle was in Saltillo on Aug. 4 during a confrontation involving his 3-year-old son. Reports from Mexico and the United States said he had gone there seeking to take custody of the boy. Authorities allege the dispute turned violent and Eberle fired on four people. Three died, and the child’s mother was left critically injured. Public reporting has not established the full terms of any custody arrangement or disclosed a complete record of prior family proceedings between the parents.
The victims were later identified as Ana Laura de León Morín, 44; Laura Jaquelín Mora de León, 22; and Emanuel Montero, 54. The wounded woman was identified as Litzy Anahí Mora de León, the mother of Eberle’s child. Reports described the people killed as members of or closely connected to her family. Some initial stories carried variations in names and ages, a common issue in fast-developing cross-border reporting. Later local and Texas Spanish-language reports supplied the identifications used here. The surviving woman’s current medical condition has not been established in more recent official material reviewed for this article.
The alleged violence was followed by an urgent search rather than an immediate arrest at the scene. Investigators say Eberle left Saltillo with his son and traveled north toward Piedras Negras, across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas. Mexican authorities circulated information as police looked for him along the route. He was eventually intercepted near an international bridge before reaching U.S. territory. The 3-year-old was recovered alive and was placed under the protection of Coahuila’s state child welfare agency, PRONNIF.
Because Eberle was captured while still in Mexico, Coahuila authorities were able to keep the criminal investigation within their own judicial system. The state Attorney General’s Office announced that a judge issued an arrest warrant in case 547/2026JEVF for Eberle’s alleged probable responsibility in femicide and qualified homicide. Officials later said he entered the Saltillo men’s penitentiary at 9:59 p.m. on Aug. 5 and was placed at the disposal of the court. Local coverage said he was ordered to remain in preventive detention as the case advanced.
One of the most consequential later disclosures concerned an alleged U.S. restriction on Eberle. Coahuila Attorney General Federico Fernández said investigators had learned of a protective order connected to alleged family violence that prohibited Eberle from possessing firearms in the United States, according to Mexican reporting. A later account of a court proceeding said prosecutors alleged he nevertheless entered Mexico with a .45-caliber firearm. The reporting reviewed does not establish how any weapon crossed the border, and the allegation about the firearm has not been proven in a final criminal judgment.
That issue creates a sharp distinction between Eberle’s professional background and the allegations now facing him. Texas peace officers operate under licensing and employment systems overseen by state and local bodies, but the killings are being investigated under Mexican law. His law enforcement license and prior assignments are relevant to understanding his background and the response of Texas agencies. They do not establish that he committed the charged crimes, nor do the available reports show that any former Texas employer has been accused of participating in or knowing about the alleged Saltillo attack beforehand.
Mexican court reporting said prosecutors later presented evidence that included a firearm and surveillance video while seeking to keep the case moving. Eberle’s defense challenged the prosecution evidence and raised issues involving his background as a military veteran, according to local coverage. A judge allowed proceedings to continue. The public reporting available does not provide a full transcript of the hearing, so descriptions of arguments made by either side remain limited to what journalists attending or reporting on the proceeding published.
The child has remained largely outside public view, as is appropriate for a 3-year-old involved in an active criminal and family case. Coahuila officials said PRONNIF took responsibility for his protection and that he had been returned to Saltillo after Eberle’s detention. The state prosecutor also reported contact with the U.S. Consular Office. Authorities did not publicly identify a permanent guardian or describe future custody proceedings, and news reports did not establish whether any U.S. court would become involved in decisions about the child.
The killings also left unanswered questions in the Saltillo neighborhood where they occurred. A neighbor told local journalists she heard neither gunshots nor a fight before family members discovered something was wrong. Investigators remained at the property for hours collecting evidence. That witness account is significant because it describes the discovery and immediate aftermath, but it cannot establish what happened between Eberle and the victims. Prosecutors must rely on physical evidence, video, witness testimony and other admissible material to prove their allegations.
As of Sept. 21, the Coahuila Attorney General’s publicly accessible news feed still carries its August announcements about Eberle’s warrant and incarceration but no final verdict or sentence. Later reports described the prosecution as moving forward in Saltillo. His past employment remains a matter of public record in Texas, while the question at the center of the Mexican proceeding is narrower and more serious: whether prosecutors can prove the homicide and femicide allegations beyond the standard required by the court.
Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.