At around 3:10 AM, Cain and another officer, Jeffery L. Kirksey, were investigating a silent burglar alarm that had been set off at the Empire Bar & Grill at 3307 Munger Ave.[11] They found Morehead and a relative burgling the restaurant.

By the 1950s, Mexican-American and students of Hispanic and Latino origin could attend one of four segregated elementary schools: William B. Travis, Cumberland Hills, Benito Juarez, and City Park.

[22] Police records noted a burglary call on Tuesday, July 24, 1973, at 2:10 AM at a Fina gas station located at 2301 Cedar Springs in Dallas.

Rowe arrived at the scene minutes after hearing the radio call, and saw that both Rodriguez brothers were still handcuffed and in the police car, with Santos in the front seat "all bloody".

[24] On Tuesday activist Rene Martinez helped organize a community meeting at Pike Park in order to coordinate a protest for Saturday, July 28.

[34] Speakers at the Pike Park meeting and attendees, who included leaders such as Pancho Medrano, spoke out against both the shooting and the low bail set for Cain.

The announcement listed his surviving relatives and details of his funeral: the service would be held on Thursday, July 26, at 2:00 pm at the First Mexican Baptist Church, and would be officiated by Rev.

Attendees included Civil Rights leaders Rene Martinez and Al Lipscomb, who criticized the absence of Dallas Police Chief Frank Dyson.

The three member committee was headed by Mayor Pro Tem George Allen, and had been advised by City Attorney Alex Bickley that a bond was not a punishment for a defendant but rather was a means of ensuring their appearance in court.

Sanchez, Councilman Pete Aguirre, Rene Martinez, Florentino Ramirez, State Representative Sam Hudson, and members of the Brown Berets.

Speeches were made at the steps of City Hall calling for community unity and action, and at around 12:50 pm the march led back to Kennedy Plaza.

[45] At City Hall, leaders of the original march such as Councilman Aguirre[46] and Representative Hudson[43] got on top of a Dallas Police car and used the speaker system in an attempt to get the crowd under control.

Judge Gossett ruled that the criminal histories and reputations of Santos, David, and Bessie Rodriguez were inadmissible in court and that witness descriptions of the shooting were admissible.

In response to demonstrators who had gathered at the courthouse (numbering between two and ten), Travis County Sheriff Raymond Frank assigned fifteen to twenty deputies around the courtroom.

[55] On Tuesday, November 13, the prosecution brought five witnesses to the stand: David Rodriguez, patrolman Jerry W. Foster, ballistics expert Allan Jones, Officer Fred M. Jenkins, and Associate Medical Examiner Vincent DiMaio.

According to Jones, the .357 Magnum pistol was designed to fire only when the trigger was fully pulled back, but could be made to make a clicking noise using two different methods.

DA Jon Sparling opened the final arguments, and described Arnold and Cain as "storm troopers" who broke into the Rodriguez home and arrested them without a warrant.

[70] At a League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) convention held in Laredo, Texas, on May 21, 1978, delegates passed a strongly worded resolution demanding that the US Department of Justice prosecute Darrell Cain for killing Santos.

[71] On June 23, President Carter met privately with a group of Mexican-American Democrats in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston, Texas to discuss the possibility of pursuing civil rights charges against Cain.

State Representative Ben Reyes showed color photographs of Santos' body,[72] which garnered an emotional reaction from President Carter, leaving him visibly upset.

Councilman Bill Nicol compared the Brown Berets to storm troopers attempting to intimidate the council, noting his belief that it was wrong to dredge up a past incident and that he did not believe the resolution backers represented the Mexican-American community at large.

[72] Nicol would later withdraw his comparison of the Brown Berets to storm troopers but continued to state that he did not believe Dallas should dwell on the tragedies and shortcomings of the past.

Adamson cited legal problems which arose due to the length of time that had passed between Cain's trial and the Justice Department's decision to bring charges in civil rights cases.

[76] Ruben Bonilla, Texas state director of LULAC, called the decision unjustifiable and irresponsible, predicting that Carter would lose the election primaries if challenged by Jerry Brown or Ted Kennedy due to being incapable of securing the Chicano vote.

San Antonio attorney Ruben Sandoval, who had petitioned for the Justice Department to prosecute Cain, was saddened by the news and described the relationship between the Carter administration and Mexican-American communities as a bitter divorce.

The office of Vice President Walter Mondale later called Reyes in order to attempt to arrange a meeting between Mexican-American leaders and Deputy Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti.

Bessie Rodriguez was also in attendance but left in tears after speaking to reporters, stating that her attorney told her the case for trying Cain was hopeless, and that while she appreciated the marchers' support, she lamented the size of the march.

[89] The Santos Rodriguez Memorial Park is located on 16th Ave S. and S. Lander St., and is the front yard of El Centro de la Raza, a non-profit organization.

[90] From July 24 to 26, 2013, a graveside ritual at Oakland Cemetery, a panel discussion at the Latino Cultural Center, and a community rally at Pike Park were held in honor of Santos.

Then-president of DMAHL Albert Valtierra said the shooting of Santos galvanized the community and marked the beginning of the civil rights fight for Mexican Americans in Dallas.