HARLINGEN — Police said Adrian Barrera shot an unarmed man at point-blank range in an argument over a stolen 9 mm pistol.
Barrera was convicted of murder in 2013 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
This week, the 13th Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence.
Police said Barrera got into a dispute with Ramiro Barron III, 27, over the stolen pistol in November 2011 in the Rangerville area of Harlingen.
Barrera, who was 27 at the time, shot an unarmed Barron with a 40-caliber pistol, police said. Barron was shot three times.
On June 6, 2013, a jury in the 138th state District Court found Barrera guilty of murder and sentenced him to 25 years.
On appeal, Barrera raised a number of issues, including the sufficiency of evidence, the properness of the jury instructions, the exclusion of an expert witness and comments regarding Barrera’s post-arrest silence.
On Thursday, the Court of Appeals overruled Barrera’s points and upheld his conviction and sentence.
The case was investigated by the Harlingen Police Department. District Attorney Luis Saenz commended the work of the police and his staff.
