Jury finds Facundo Chavez guilty of capital murder of El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy Peter Herrera
Update: El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks is expected to speak about the jury's decision Thursday afternoon.
UPDATE - Jury finds Facundo Chavez of capital murder in the killing of Deputy Peter Herrera on March 22nd, 2019. The defense for Chavez asked for the judge to poll the jury, and all 12 members said they handed in a guilty verdict.
Sentencing will take place on Friday, August 4th at 9 a.m.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The capital murder trial against Facundo Chavez is now in the hands of the jury. Chavez is charged with killing El Paso County Sheriff's Deputy Peter Herrera in the early morning hours of March 22nd, 2019.
Both the defense and the prosecution gave their closing arguments to the jury Thursday morning. The prosecution began with state attorney Michelle Hill. Hill stated that Deputy Herrera, "acted within the scope of his duty on March 12th, 2019. That date was the day that Deputy Herrera and other members of of the El Paso County Sheriff's office responded to a call of a dispute at Arlene Piña's father's house on March 12th, 2019.
The prosecutor said, "there's no way Deputy Herrera knew who was driving that vehicle." The prosecution also argued that if there was something illegitimate about the traffic stop that led to the shooting, why would Deputy Herrera have called in the traffic stop, and called for a rollover.
The defense then was able to present their closing argument. Chavez's attorney said that they are not disputing where the incident happened, that Deputy Herrera was a peace officer or that he was killed by Facundo Chavez.
The defense said their argument is that was Deputy Herrera, "acting in the lawful discharge" of his duties. The defense was also asking the jury if the evidence presented by the state proves the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
