SAN ANTONIO – The murder trial for a man accused of fatally shooting another man trying to repossess his tires began on Tuesday.
Richard Vallejo is facing a first-degree murder charge for the June 2020 murder of Andrew Gomez, 27.
According to prosecutors, Gomez went to Vallejo’s parent’s house to repossess tires he rented and owed money on from Rolling Rentals.
When Gomez arrived, Vallejo wasn’t home and waited there for him with Vallejo’s father.
Prosecutor Nicole Phillips said during opening statements that when Vallejo arrived, he got out of his truck with a gun in his hand and walked toward Gomez who was sitting at an outdoor table with Vallejo’s father.
“Gun still in his hand and he says, ‘You want to be threatening me, bro’? And Andrew responds by putting his hands up and saying, ‘You’re the one with the gun, bro. I don’t have a gun.’ And then the defendant shoots him,” Phillips said.
Phillips went on to say that Gomez was shot six times and it was all caught on surveillance cameras from Vallejo’s parents’ house.
Meanwhile, the defense said the entire story the state told the prosecution was not correct and that Vallejo was threatened by Gomez before he arrived through text messages.
“He went over there to administer a beating. He was going to teach my client a lesson about not paying his bill and not doing to what he was supposed to do. So what the evidence is going to show that when Richard Vallejo got that message, he freaked out,” defense attorney Robert Maurer said.
Maurer went on to say the incident is all a case of self-defense.
Text messages between Vallejo and Gomez and the surveillance video is expected to be shown to the jury during the trial, which is behind heard in the 437th District Court.
If the jury finds Vallejo guilty, he faces punishment of 5 to 99 years or life in prison.
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