SAN ANTONIO – A double murder case from 2018 is finally heading to trial.
Nicholas “Trey” Milanovich, 23, and Julia Wright, 21, were found in what police at the time called a very bloody scene on Sept. 30, 2018.
Wright was found outside an apartment in the 8600 block of Fairhaven Street. Milanovich was found in his bed inside his apartment.
When police found Milanovich, he was still alive but would later die from his injuries.
Both Wright and Milanovich had been shot.
Police at first didn’t have many leads as to who could have committed such a horrific crime.
Milanovich’s family was searching for answers.
A tip a little over a month later led police to search the home of a woman who was the girlfriend of a man named Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, an initial search of the home revealed ammunition similar to the ones found at the crime scene as well as a lockbox that seemed like one that belonged to Wright.
A few months later, a second search was done, and that same lockbox had been stuffed behind a washer. Police later revealed in the affidavit that the lockbox contained Wright’s medicine and her combination was able to open it.
Police now believed they had their suspect but Avelar-Rodriguez couldn’t be found.
It would be more than a year later that Avelar-Rodriguez was found at a federal immigration detention facility in Pearsall, where he was being detained.
He was brought to Bexar County and charged with capital murder.
The Trial
The case would see delays at first because of the pandemic and then it was transferred to a different court.
Eventually in 2023 after the transfer, the case started moving again.
The defense at one point in late 2023 filed a motion to suppress, which means they were trying to get an alleged confession that Avelar-Rodriguez made to police to not be allowed into evidence.
A hearing was held and 226th District Court Judge Velia Meza determined there was nothing wrong with how the interrogation was done and denied the motion.
Both sides started to talk about a possible plea deal but nothing was never agreed upon and a trial date was set.
Jury selection takes place on Jan. 12 and opening statements and testimony begins on Jan. 16.
KSAT 12 will livestream this trial gavel to gavel. You can watch the trial on KSAT.com, KSAT Plus and KSAT’s YouTube channel.