SAN ANTONIO – The family of a man on trial for capital murder says he’s innocent of the crime he has been charged with.
Jonathan Tijerina was one of six men charged with the May 2022 murder of Takhai Michael, 20, outside a hookah lounge.
Tijerina’s mother and sister told KSAT that he is not what he is being portrayed as.
“He is not a murderer,” Tijerina’s mother, Lucia Huerta, said. “Jonathan is a caring, kind young man who always looked after others. I know that he is not a murderer because of the person I raised.”
The night of the shooting, Tijerina was at the hookah lounge and had gone outside to talk to a friend. According to testimony in the trial, Tijerina was the first to approach the car, and then five other armed men did as well.
Michael was robbed and then fatally shot by two of the other men.
According to Huerta, her son didn’t really know the other men, and he didn’t have a gun on him.
The other men charged have since taken plea deals, something Tijerina’s sister said he wasn’t going to do.
“He went to trial because he is innocent,” Tijerina’s sister Savannah Hernandez said. “He believes that he is not guilty. And we stand by him, and we will always stand by him. And we know for a fact that he’s not guilty. There’s proof. There’s the evidence.”
Huerta admits her son isn’t perfect and has made mistakes in the past, but guilty of capital murder, he is not.
Both Huerta and Hernandez did want Michael’s family to know they were very sympathetic toward them.
“It’s very sad, and we’re heartbroken that it happened,” Hernandez said. “I just want the family to know that my brother is not the one who did it.”
Testimony in this case resumes on Thursday. Tijerina faces up to life in prison if found guilty.