Hidalgo County investigators faced immediate friction during the initial phase of the homicide probe. Because the shooting occurred in the middle of a chaotic crowd evacuation, early witness reports offered conflicting physical descriptions of the shooters. Multiple vehicles had sped out of the dirt parking lots within seconds of the shots, crossing municipal lines before local deputies set up a perimeter.
Deputies later arrested 23-year-old Manuel Antonio Garibay. Prosecutors built the case around ballistic matches, forensic fragments retrieved during the autopsy, and eyewitness confirmations placing Garibay among the three aggressive attendees who broke through the stage barriers.
Garibay was convicted of murder in Hidalgo County state district court and handed a multi-decade prison sentence. Despite persistent internet theories alleging that organized crime figures targeted Trigo over cross-border extortion, Hidalgo County prosecutors repeatedly maintained that court records established a simpler, senseless motive: an ego-driven altercation sparked by intoxicated attendees who were denied private access to a celebrity.
