( CNN ) -- A U.S. soldier arrested in connection with the killing of a Mexican drug cartel member in El Paso , Texas , allegedly worked as a hit man , court records say . Michael Jackson Apodaca , 18 , is a soldier based at Fort Bliss . Pfc . Michael Jackson Apodaca , 18 , was one of three men arrested Monday in connection with the shooting death of the mid-level drug cartel member who also worked as an informant for the United States , according to a complaint affidavit . Apodaca joined the Army a year ago and worked as a crew member on a Patriot missile launcher , officials at Fort Bliss in El Paso told CNN . `` He was in the top of his class , '' said Dave Jackson , his grandfather . `` You talk to all his sergeants . He 's a good soldier . Now , before he went in ( and joined the Army ) , he was in , he was in with a bad crowd . '' Police identified the other suspects as Ruben Rodriguez Dorado , 30 , and Christopher Andrew Duran , 17 . The three men each face one count of capital murder , El Paso police said . The victim , Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana , was shot multiple times in front of his home on May 15 . The three men are being held on $ 1 million bond . Duran and Rodriguez told police that Apodaca was paid to be the shooter , the affidavit states . Cell phone records , witness statements and El Paso Police detectives corroborated this , according to the document . Orders to kill Gonzalez came from the same cartel he worked for , the affidavit said . Gonzalez had become a target because the cartel believed he was leaking information to authorities , the document said . The victim and one of the suspects , Rodriguez , were in the Juarez cartel , based across the border from El Paso , police spokesman Chris Mears told CNN . Police believe that Apodaca and Duran were not cartel members , he said . The three arrested men 's phone records showed their approximate locations on the night of the killing , according to court documents . The pattern showed that the suspects were tracking Gonzalez and followed him to the scene of the crime , the affidavit states . During an interrogation , Rodriguez told investigators that he ordered Gonzalez 's execution and that he paid the participants for their role in the killing , the affidavit states . Apodaca joined the Army in September 2008 , according to a statement from Fort Bliss in El Paso . He is a member of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Fort Bliss , the statement said . El Paso County District Court records show that Apodaca was arrested 10 days after Gonzalez 's killing and charged with attempted theft of property , a second-degree felony . He posted a $ 10,000 bond a few days later . CNN 's Melanie Whitley and Tracy Sabo contributed to this report .
NEW : 18-year-old was `` a good soldier , '' grandfather says . U.S. soldier arrested in connection with killing of Mexican drug cartel member . Michael Jackson Apodaca , 18 , was one of three men arrested Monday . Other suspects are Ruben Rodriguez Dorado and Christopher Andrew Duran .