Police say the suspect confessed at home after a fatal stabbing inside a neighborhood grocery store.
GARLAND, Texas — A Garland man charged with murder in a deadly grocery store stabbing was taken to police by his parents after telling them he had attacked someone at Fiesta Mart, according to an arrest warrant that lays out the final hours before his surrender.
The suspect, 32-year-old Juan Pedro Reyes, is accused of killing 39-year-old Franky Selyma Arredondo Barrios in what Garland police say was a random attack Friday night. Investigators say Reyes entered the Fiesta Mart on South First Street, spent time inside the store, then stabbed a man he did not know. The case has shaken nearby businesses and customers because police say the victim appeared to have been shopping when he was targeted.
Police said officers were called to the 2900 block of South First Street just after 8 p.m. Friday on a report of a stabbing. When they arrived, they found Arredondo Barrios wounded inside the store. He was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. By the time officers got there, the suspect was gone. Detectives later released surveillance images and asked the public for help as they worked to trace the moments before and after the stabbing. The next day, though, the break in the case came from inside the suspect’s own home. According to the affidavit, Reyes’ mother questioned why he no longer had his hat and sweatshirt. Reyes replied that he had hidden them because he had stabbed someone at Fiesta Mart.
The warrant says Reyes’ mother did not believe the statement at first. The family went to sleep, and the seriousness of the confession became clear only the following morning. Investigators said Reyes’ father went to the Fiesta Mart to find out whether anything had happened and learned there had been a stabbing there. Realizing the confession was real, the parents told their son to turn himself in and drove him to the Garland Police Department. Police said Reyes surrendered Saturday. Investigators also said Reyes told them he did not know the victim had died before he arrived at the station. That account became a central part of the police timeline because it connected the confession, the surrender and the evidence recovery that followed.
According to the arrest warrant, Reyes told investigators he had gone to a skate park earlier because he wanted to be alone and was having thoughts about hurting someone. He said he believed he needed to “prove he was tough.” From there, the affidavit says, he drove to the grocery store and decided to pick someone to stab. Investigators said Reyes remained in the store for about 30 minutes before choosing Arredondo Barrios, who was alone in the back area. Police said Reyes reported there was no exchange of words and that he came up behind the victim before stabbing him. Garland police spokesman Lt. Pedro Barineau said the department considers the case a rare random attack involving strangers, a fact that has deepened concern in the neighborhood.
After the stabbing, Reyes told investigators he ran from the store and tried to hide what he had done. The affidavit says he placed the knife in a storm drain and threw his hat, gloves and sweatshirt into a trash can at a park near his home. Police said officers later found those items in the places Reyes described. That recovery helped detectives support the account laid out in the warrant. Authorities have not publicly detailed a possible motive beyond the statements attributed to Reyes, and they have not said whether any additional charges could follow. They also have not released information about funeral plans for Arredondo Barrios or whether relatives have spoken publicly.
The victim’s death also left a visible mark on the shopping plaza. A worker at a nearby market told local television that Arredondo Barrios was a regular customer who had stopped in to order food before walking over to Fiesta to shop while he waited. He never came back for the order. That detail turned a police file into a portrait of an ordinary evening interrupted without warning. Investigators have described Arredondo Barrios as a man going about routine errands when he was attacked inside a neighborhood store. For Garland police, the case now moves from an urgent homicide search to the slower court process that follows an arrest.
Reyes remained in the Garland Detention Center on a murder charge in the latest public update. The next milestone is a court proceeding in which the charge, custody status and future hearing dates are expected to be addressed.
Author note: Last updated April 1, 2026.