Pre-Trials Commence on Two San Angelo Murder Cases

Pre-trials were scheduled all day on February 2, 2016, particularly on the murder trials of Stephano Miguel Culbreath and Jonathan Jesse Marin.

Stephano Miguel Culbreath, 46, is on trial for the murder of 24-year-old David Titus. He was served with a warrant on July 29, 2015 in the Tom Green County Jail where he was being held on a drug charge since the Saturday before, just hours after the body of Titus was found lying dead in the 200 block of 13^th street with a gunshot wound to the neck.

Titus and Culbreath were believed to be acquaintances. Police investigators alleged that Culbreath was pursuing Titus with a maroon Chevrolet Suburban and struck Titus’s bicycle before he shot Titus at the location. The complaint against Culbreath suggests that the murder may be drug-fueled as he was indicted for possession of a controlled substance, which police found on his person when he was taken into custody.

The Murder charge is a first-degree felony which is punishable by five to 99 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000.

Culbreath has been scheduled for an additional criminal pre-trial at 9 a.m. on February 10 and a Jury Trial on February 16 at 9 a.m. However, the pre-trial on the 10^th will either confirm or move the Jury Trial date. 

For more on Stephano Culbreath, click here.

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Jonathan Jesse Marin, 26, is on trial for Capital Murder by Terror Threat for the shooting of 69-year-old William Valdez at his home in the 500 block of North Sellers St. He is the fourth suspect involved in this tragedy. Fernando Lavaris Jr., Eliza (AKA Lisa) Losoya, and Eric John Martinez were arrested on the same charge. However, their court dates were canceled for other reasons.

These four broke into Valdez’s home during the early morning hours on August 31, 2015, which Marin stated to have been casing for a future robbery. During the invasion, Valdez was shot just under his left arm and transported to Shannon Hospital for emergency surgery. Valdez later passed away due to his injuries.

Further court dates for these four have yet to be scheduled. 

For more on Jonathan Jesse Marin, click here.

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Also, Tuesday seemed to be the day to address cases against children like sexual abuse, sexual assault, and injury to child. There were 18 cases of this sort addressed in court for pre-trials.