Jury trial starts for 2021 McDonald’s murder
Editor's Note: The original story said the shooting happened at a McDonald's located across the UTEP campus. It happened at a McDonald's near the intersection of N Mesa Street and the I-10. This story has been corrected with the actual location.
UPDATE (July 8, 2026): Wednesday, forensic experts took the stand and showed biological evidence linking Lewis to the crime.
DNA forensic scientist Kathy Cerrano confirmed that samples collected from the parking lot, getaway car and weapon tested positive for DNA evidence matching Lewis' clothing.
El Paso Police Department's supervisor of its fingerprints section found prints that matched Lewis' right middle finger.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Tuesday, the jury trial for a 2021 murder at a West El Paso McDonald's parking lot started. Robron Lewis is facing capital murder charges for the shooting, which police said started as a drug deal.
It happened Oct. 28, 2021, at a McDonald's on 7900 N Mesa St. near Interstate 10, according to police. An affidavit said 24-year-old Tranquil Card was also involved.
(Courtesy: EPPD)
Police said the men allegedly shot and killed 22-year-old Jacal Jacob Allen, stole 10 pounds of marijuana and left the area.
Lewis and Card reportedly agreed to purchase the marijuana from Allen, according to police.
An off-duty officer followed Lewis and Card and found them hiding in an auditorium at the University of Texas at El Paso, according to documents. At the time, the campus dorms went under a shelter-in-place as police searched and captured the pair.
Lewis was 22 years old at the time of the shooting, as ABC-7 previously reported.
A judge later denied bond for Card and ordered Lewis be held on a $2 million bond.
ABC-7 previously reported that UTEP President Heather Wilson acknowledged students' complaints about not knowing about police searching the campus for the suspects.
“There was a crime that happened off-campus last night that resulted in community police coming on-campus searching for the suspects. Our notification to the campus community to shelter-in-place was not fast enough. We are reviewing our response and lessons learned to fix problems,” she told ABC-7 in a statement.
