EDINBURG — The family of a mass shooting victim hugged each other tightly Tuesday as a jury convicted a 31-year-old Mission man who had pleaded not guilty by insanity of shooting and killing their loved one.
Raul Lopez, who showed no emotion as the verdict was read, was found guilty of murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a count of attempted capital murder of multiple persons by a jury.
He has been in custody since Nov. 28, 2016, after firing 19 shots into a breakroom at the grocery store on Goodwin Road and U.S. Expressway 83, where overnight workers were eating lunch, at around 3:30 a.m.
He is convicted of killing 48-year-old Mario Pulido, who was shot nine times, and injuring Billy Joe Martinez, then 33, Rafael Martinez, then 37, and Frailan Garza, then 51.
The jury began deliberating late Monday morning and reached a verdict Tuesday afternoon after a little more than 10 hours of work.
The trial lasted two weeks and included 23 witnesses and 348 exhibits were entered into evidence.
Lopez’s attorneys brought an insanity defense while prosecutors pointed to evidence they said showed the man knew what he was doing was wrong.
The state argued that because Lopez had taken his 9mm Desert Eagle with two magazines and dumped them at a neighboring lot after the shooting, then calling 9-1-1 on himself indicated that he knew what he had done was wrong.
His defense attorneys, O. Rene Flores and Mauricio Martinez, had sought an insanity defense, arguing he suffered from schizophrenia and did not know what he was doing was wrong at the time of the shooting.
During closing arguments, prosecutors Maggie Hinojosa and Juan Bazan reminded the jury of the 9-1-1 call and the dumping of the gun.
They also presented evidence that Lopez apologized to his wife before his arrest.
Last Friday saw the final expert testify, forensic psychiatrist Michael R. Arambula, who said Lopez suffers from an unspecified depressive disorder with clear evidence of symptom exaggeration.
He also said that Lopez is anti-social, aggressive and suffers from a paranoid personality disorder, concluding that Lopez knew what he was doing the night of the shooting.
Arambula testified that Lopez did not suffer from schizophrenia.
Prosecutors said that Lopez’s possible motive for the shooting was caused by an incident where Lopez had laughed at Garza, who had dropped and broke a pickle jar during that shift, which caused Garza to become upset with the defendant or the fact that Lopez knew he was on the verge of termination due to insubordination.
The possible motives were not brought up during the state’s closing arguments.
As for Lopez’s defense, a series of experts were brought in to testify on Lopez’s mental state with the first being forensic psychiatrist Tomas A. Gonzalez, a defense witness, who said that the defendant suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and didn’t know right from wrong during the shooting.
Forensic psychologist Gregorio Piña, who was appointed by the court to determine whether the defendant was competent to stand trial, also testified upon the state’s request and stated that Lopez does suffer from mild to moderate schizophrenia but was exaggerating his symptoms for personal gain.
He went on to say that his condition would only deteriorate without proper treatment as schizophrenia is a lifelong illness.
Before the trial, Lopez elected that state District Judge Fernando Mancias sentence him as opposed to the jury.
Lopez’s sentencing is scheduled for April 26, court records indicate.
