x

Jury Finds McAllen Man Guilty of Healthcare Provider Murder

4 years 7 months 1 week ago Thursday, August 15 2019 Aug 15, 2019 August 15, 2019 11:56 AM August 15, 2019 in News - Local

UPDATE (8/16): A jury has found Juan Manuel Hernandez guilty of murder.

The sentencing was postponed to Sept. 19 at 8:30 a.m.

-----

EDINBURG – The trial of a man accused of killing his mother’s healthcare provider in McAllen continued Thursday.

In court, video of his interrogation of played for the jury.

State prosecutors are trying to highlight a problem with the timeline offered by the defendant, Juan Manuel Hernandez.

The day started with video of Hernandez under interrogation after reporting the death of Maria Alisa Garza.

Hernandez was clearly agitated, banging his hands on the table and at times raising his voice.

Investigators questioned him about when he found the body and why he waited a day to report it to police.

In the video, Hernandez says he should’ve called them sooner, but he claimed he thought Garza was still alive.

He claims he was high on drugs when he found the body on the evening of Oct. 27, 2017.

Prosecutors presented to the jury call logs revealing the defendant called pawn shops that same morning of Oct. 27.

The state had previously showed he had pawned the victim’s phone.

Hernandez also heard raising questions about the victim’s boyfriend at the time.

Investigators said there was a history of abuse, but after reading text messages between the couple, officials believed they had reconciled by the time of the murder.

We’ll update this story if any new information from the trial develops.

More News


Radar
7 Days