Arresting officer testifies in trial of man accused of murdering El Paso Sheriff’s deputy

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Retired Border Patrol Agent Arturo Porras took the stand Friday morning in the capital murder trial against Facundo Chavez. Chavez is accused of shooting El Paso County Sheriff's Deputy Peter Herrera more than 10 times on March 22nd, 2019, leading to his death two days later.

In his testimony, Agent Porras stated he was patrolling an area around one mile south of the location of the shooting, around the 1000 block of Chicken Ranch Road, in San Elizario, Texas.

The former agent said when he arrived at the scene, he saw two deputy units, and a white convertible BMW.

The agent testified that he saw bullet casings, bullets, and a pool of blood on the ground.

He then called the Border Patrol Command Center for backup, and other agents arrived. He says an El Paso Constable informed him that an El Paso County Sheriff's Deputy had been shot.

Porras and his agents then began to track footprints. The footprints led them to an abandoned house, where they found two shed.

Porras and the other agents approached the first shed and found it to be locked, then moved on to the second shed.

Porras testified that he noticied a leg sticking out of the second shed, and the agents called out to the person inside.

A woman came out of the shed, and Porras said he asked for cover as he approached her to put handcuffs in her.

Porras testified that later a man came out, and El Paso County Sheriff's Deputies took the man into custody.

Porras was asked to identify the man who exited the shed, and he pointed towards Facundo Chavez, who was sitting in court with his legal team.

The defense questioned Porras, and pulled up evidence pictures of Chavez in custody, showing a noticeable injury or discoloration to his right eye. The defense asked if Porras had seen Chavez thrown to the ground or resisting arrest. Porras testified that he did not see either of those things.

This testimony comes on the third day of the trial. After a delay on the initial day, jurors watched dash and body camera video of the murder on the second day.

ABC-7 has had a crew inside of the courtroom since the first day, bringing our viewers complete team coverage of the trial. Count on us to continue to bring you details from inside the courtroom until the verdict comes down.