Jury finds Joseph Alvarez guilty of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon

UPDATE: A jury found Joseph Alvarez guilty in the murder of state attorney Georgette Kaufmann. He was also found guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The jury deliberated for a few hours.

Some family members were seen embracing each other and crying after the verdict was handed down.

Outside of the courtroom one loved was heard saying, "I am so happy and relieved."

During the pre-sentencing phase, Georgette Kaufmann's mother and son testified.

The mother described her daughter as kind, sweet, helpful and loving daughter.

She said she was a daddy's girl who was a ballerina until the 9th grade.

Abraham Gonzalez, a detective with the El Paso Police Department, also testified.

He said he searched Alvarez's home after the shooting. He said he found ammunition, magazines, rifles and firearm suppressors, which are used to silence the sound of a weapon, inside his home.

Kauffman's son, Connor Kauffman, also explained his relationship with parents.

He said his mother would pick him up from school and would take him to McDonald's after.

He said he was about to turn 17 when the deadly incident happened. He was in Dallas for a fencing tournament.

He realized something was wrong after he called his parents multiple times and neither of them picked up the phone even three hours later.

It wasn't until the next day when he was back in EL Paso when an officer told him what had happened.

He said he couldn't find his father in the hospital because he was listed under a different name. He eventually found him later that evening. He was in the ICU recovering.

The state rested their case. The defense will begin calling witnesses at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Closing arguments were delivered Friday morning in the murder trial of Joseph Alvarez. Alvarez is accused of shooting and killing state attorney Georgette Kaufmann in her garage in November of 2020. He is also accused of hurting Kauffman's husband during the incident.

In their own closing arguments, defense attorneys argued that Alvarez believes God had ordered Alvarez to kill Kaufmann, and that Alvarez believed he was doing the right thing.

"In his mind, he had been ordained to do this," defense attorneys said.

The prosecution presented pictures taken by Alvarez three days before the murder, which were taken across from Kaufmann's garage. They also questioned why Alvarez wore gloves to avoid leaving finger prints, along with dark clothing, if he believed he was doing the right thing.

Judge Alyssa Perez ordered the jury to begin deliberations at 10:50 a.m. ABC-7 was told by sources that those deliberations could take hours, or even until Monday.

ABC-7 will keep you updated on the trial both on air and online.