Testimony resumed Tuesday in 78th District Court in the murder trial of Adan Chavez, and the trial was expected to continue Wednesday morning.
Chavez, 25, was indicted for the Oct. 2, 2022, shooting death of Jorge Gonzales, 23, court records show. Chavez is also accused of firing shots into Gonzales’ home in the 1400 block of North Eighth Street the day before the murder.
Chavez was being held Wednesday in the Wichita County Jail on a $275,000 bond for the murder charge and a $25,000 bond for a charge of deadly conduct-discharge of firearm in connection with an Oct. 1, 2022, incident, online jail and court records show.
Gonzales was shot in the parking lot of a Dollar Saver convenience store in the 700 block of Central Freeway, court documents show.
Murder is a first degree felony carrying a punishment of five to 99 years or life in prison if there is a conviction. The gun charge is a third degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison. Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless convicted beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The state wrapped up its case Tuesday by calling witnesses to testify about forensic evidence. A current Wichita Falls officer and a former officer testified about transporting evidence to and from laboratories, and a crime scene investigator testified about multiple bullets and casings found at the scene.
A weapons expert from the Texas Department of Public Safety detailed forensic analysis that connected the bullets at the scene and taken from Gonzales’ body to a weapon confiscated by police.
The defense questioned a relative of Chavez about a gun found after the shooting in the man’s home and showed surveillance video that depicted vehicles coming and going from the convenience store near the time Gonzales was shot.
Wichita County Assistant Public Defender Joe Cole said the defense will call one more witness Wednesday before closing its case.
Court documents indicate Chavez had been arguing at a house earlier in the day with Gonzales, and his two brothers and witnesses heard Chavez say he was going to get a gun, according to allegations in a police investigator’s affidavit.
The documents say witnesses at the scene told police Chavez took a rifle from the bed of a pickup and shot Gonzales multiple times.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Testimony resumes in murder trial
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
