EDINBURG — Prosecutors on Monday foreshadowed testimony from a witness serving a decade in prison, who will appear before jurors in an orange jumpsuit and in shackles at some point during trial in a 2016 murder.
That person is Nancy Lopez — older sister to 21-year-old Reynaldo Reyes Jr., who was fatally shot three times in the Edinburg apartment they shared nearly six years ago.
During opening arguments in the murder trial against 31-year-old Weslaco resident Victor Lee Alfaro, prosecutor Jay Garza acknowledged Lopez’s troubled past, but told jurors that allowing the defendant into her life as a lover and introducing her to Reyes was Lopez’s biggest mistake.
This is the second time Alfaro is on trial for these allegations.
In the first, which ended in a mistrial in March 2018 after jurors could not reach a unanimous decision after 13 hours of deliberation, Lopez’s testimony also played a major factor into the proceeding after defense attorneys pointed out inconsistencies in her version of events that fateful night.
Garza outlined the state’s version again Monday, telling jurors that Alfaro and Lopez were going to have sex the night of the murder, but instead Alfaro decided to smoke some methamphetamine and began speaking erratically before pulling out a gun, running into Reyes’ room and shooting him before fleeing the scene.
Reyes died at 2:05 a.m. on May 4, 2016. The anniversary of his death is Wednesday.
During the previous trial, testimony revealed a lack of physical evidence against Alfaro, including no fingerprints on the gun or the weapon’s magazine, and police did not find DNA on his clothes.
That trial also saw the judge acquit Alfaro on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon due to a lack of evidence, according to newspaper archives.
However, during openings Monday, Garza urged jurors to pay attention to the evidence, which he says all points to Alfaro. He also said that despite Lopez’s criminal issues, her story about what happened to her brother has never changed.
Witness testimony began in the new trial with two people who lived in the Edinburg Village Apartments, which are right down the street from the courthouse, at the time of the killing.
Mirna Light told jurors that she lived in the apartment below Lopez’s.
She remembered hearing “loud discussions” between Lopez and a man she could not identify before hearing three shots.
Light said she opened her door and said Alfaro came down the stairs and got into a red four-door vehicle and left.
The witness said Alfaro wasn’t running. The two also had a brief interaction, but Light couldn’t recall exactly what Alfaro said to her.
She also told jurors how she saw Reyes covered in blood and wanted to get a towel to apply pressure, but Lopez told her not to touch her brother’s body, which Light found odd.
At that time, Reyes was still alive.
Richard Chambers lived there at the time and told jurors that he heard the gunshots and called police.
He also said he saw a vehicle leaving the apartment at a high rate of speed which he believed Lopez was driving.
However, that was not Lopez. She remained at the scene and escorted Edinburg police Sgt. Daniel Salazar to the room where her brother had been shot.
Daniel Salazar, who was on patrol at the time and arrived at the scene at 12:42 a.m., said Lopez showed him the handgun used in the shooting.
The weapon had its magazine removed and was lying on a counter.
At the last trial, Lopez said Alfaro pointed the gun at her before apologizing and leaving, which is where the initial aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge that was dropped originated.
Daniel Salazar also testified that Reyes still had life when he arrived, explaining to jurors that he was breathing rapidly.
Forensic pathologist Norma Jean Farley also testified Monday.
She conducted Reyes’ autopsy.
Reyes had been shot once in the face and twice in his left buttock, which Farley believes indicates he was either laying in bed or bending over when he was shot.
Farley said all three of those wounds were potentially fatal.
Edinburg police Sgt. Humberto Salazar also briefly testified Monday, saying he interviewed Lopez and conducted a gunshot residue test on her.
He said he believed Lopez’s story.
Testimony is scheduled to continue Tuesday morning.
