HOUSTON (AP) — A teenager has been charged with murder in the slaying of a 35-year-old man whose beaten and stabbed body was found in a Houston motel bathtub.

Harris County jail records show 17-year-old Carlos F. Mercado was charged Wednesday in the death of Carlos Villatoro, and is being held without bond.

Jail records don’t list an attorney for Mercado.

He was arrested before dawn Tuesday for a traffic violation as he drove the victim’s car. Investigators say Mercado’s clothes were bloody and that he admitted to the killing.

A cleaner discovered Villatoro’s body in the Tropical Motel.

Houston police say Mercado and the victim checked into a room together and an argument ensued.

Authorities haven’t released a possible motive in the death.

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