SAN ANTONIO – Witness after witness described a bloody crime scene on the first day of the capital murder trial of Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez.
Avelar-Rodriguez is accused in the fatal shooting of Nicholas Milanovich, 23, and Julia Wright, 21, on Sept. 30, 2018.
“He saw them both laying in the bed helpless, asleep and bang, bang, he shot them both with a 9-mm handgun,” prosecutor Raul Jordan said in opening statements.
Wright was found in a pool of blood on a sidewalk between apartment buildings in the 8600 block of Fairhaven Street.
In court Tuesday, jurors heard a 911 call from a resident at the apartment complex. The caller said they could see a lot of blood outside but couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
First responding officers took the stand and described finding Wright and then following her trail of blood to an open apartment door.
“I saw a lot of blood,” SAPD Detective Leslie Cassidy described to jurors. Cassidy and another officer also told the jury that they heard a gurgling sound from upstairs in the apartment building.
“Once we were on that level, we can see a male laying face-up to the right side of the bed and had an injury to his face, looked like he had been shot,” Cassidy said.
That male was Milanovich, who was still alive when he was found but would later die from his injuries.
While investigating the crime scene, a tire iron was found by an open window of the apartment, as well as a latex glove and a footprint on a couch.
According to the defense, Milanovich and Wright were selling drugs, and someone ordered their business to be shut down.
They said Avelar-Rodriguez was in fear for his life.
The last witness to take the stand for the day was Avelar-Rodriguez’s girlfriend, Valerie Rocha.
She claimed there were a lot of details she couldn’t remember about what happened in 2018 and that she didn’t know Milanovich or Wright.
At one point, she said Avelar-Rodriguez never had a gun but then talked about having a conversation with him about removing the weapon from their apartment because she was on parole and couldn’t be around one.
Rocha also said that she talks to Avelar-Rodriguez often through jail calls and is still in love with him.
The death penalty is not on the table in this case. If found guilty, Avelar-Rodriguez would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Testimony resumes Wednesday morning.
KSAT 12 will livestream this trial gavel to gavel. You can watch the trial on KSAT.com, KSAT Plus and KSAT’s YouTube channel.
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