Keene to Stand Trial for Manslaughter in Eldorado in February

SAN ANGELO, TX -- A 23-year-old San Angelo man will stand trial for manslaughter in Schleicher County starting February 28.  

Michael Gary Keene was originally charged with an accident involving death for the June 16, 2015 hit and run death of 23-year-old Gisele Jarmon.  He was indicted on a charge of manslaughter for the same incident in June of 2017.  

Keene sat silently at the defense table taking notes Wednesday morning while his attorney J.W. Johnson answered questions from District Judge Barbara Walther.  Johnson said he will call an expert witness from San Antonio who will reconstruct the accident scene.  

51st District Attorney John Best told Judge Walther he expects to call a DPS trooper as a rebuttal witness.  The trial is expected to last five days.  Judge Walther granted a change of venue from San Angelo because of pretrial publicity.  

In other courthouse news, Jonathan Jesse Marin was also schedule for a pretrial hearing.  He sat in shackles in courtroom C on the second floor of the Tom Green County courthouse. Marin is charged with capital murder in the shooting death of 69-year-old William Valdez.  He is one of four people facing the death penalty in that case.  Marin’s pretrial hearing was rescheduled because his attorney couldn’t make it to San Angelo because of icy roads in Kerr County.