A 20-year-old Austin, Texas man is accused of murdering his 18-year-old boyfriend during an argument following a night of drinking.
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Canchola is being held at Travis County Correctional Complex on murder charges in connection to Sylvester’s death, jail records show.
Their residence is less than two blocks from the University of Texas at Austin, but Canchola is a student at St. Mary’s University, as indicated by his Facebook page.
As stated by an arrest affidavit, Bryan Canchola was charged in the death Friday of 18-year-old Stephen Sylvester.
The roommate helped gather up a few belongings so they could go to the hospital.
The couple’s roommate says soon after arriving home, they went into their room and began fighting.
As indicated by KVUE the pair, who hadn’t been dating for very long came out of their room pushing and shoving each other. The roommate told police the situation escalated.
The roommate said around 4:20 a.m. he heard more screaming and thrashing.
Sylvester’s dog yelped and Sylvester could be heard telling Canchola to “Let the dog go”.
The roommate then started banging on the door and eventually made his way in the room.
Their roommate told them to keep the noise down, so they apologized and went back into their room. Blood was pouring down the back of his neck and on his shirt, according to reports. The argument ended when Canchola punched Sylvester, knocking him to the ground, and threw a heavy drinking glass at him, which shattered. Shortly after checking in, Sylvester left the hospital without notifying Landry, or getting medical attention. When the roommate learned Sylvester left, he called 911, anxious that the teen went back to the apartment to work things out with Canchola.
Canchola reportedly yelled, “Why would you cheat on me?”
Police were then called to the apartment after Canchola called 911 to report he had gotten into a fight with this boyfriend, who was now unconscious and bleeding from a head wound.
As indicated by autopsy results, the teen suffered bleeding on the brain and a fracture in his neck.
Sylvester’s dog, a Yorkshire terrier, was injured in what appeared to be a strangulation attempt.
As indicated by the affidavit, Canchola sent texts to his step-father saying he was ‘scared, in trouble and did not know what to do.’.
An officer on the scene stated, as indicated by the affadavit, that Canchola had apparent blood on his lips, hands and feet.
The report also noted a ‘considerable lack of blood on Sylvester which suggested to him that the body may have been cleaned prior to his arrival.’.
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Canchola is now in custody with bond set at $500,000.
