SAN ANTONIO – After deliberating for 11 hours over a two-day period, jurors in the murder trial of Nathan Knowles announced late Friday afternoon they were deadlocked and unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Knowles, 35, was on trial for the shooting death of Michael Berlanga, 40, near a corner store in the 1600 block of Zarzamora Road on Oct. 7, 2017.
Witnesses testified during the trial that an argument between the men escalated into a fistfight before taking a deadly turn.
Witnesses said that Knowles went to his car, pulled a gun and fired three shots. One of the bullets hit Berlanga in the head, killing him.
The jury began deliberations Thursday morning.
Just before noon Friday, jurors said that they were unable to reach a verdict, prompting Senior Judge Raymond Angelini to give them a set of special instructions.
"It is reasonable to assume that the case will be tried again before another jury at some future time," Angelini said. "You are instructed to continue deliberations in an effort to arrive at a verdict that is acceptable to all members of the jury."
The panel resumed deliberations but at 3 p.m. announced that it was hopelessly deadlocked.
Angelini declared a mistrial at that point.
The murder indictment against Knowles remains in place, and the case will now go back into the system to be tried at a later date.
Knowles remains jailed in lieu of bond.