SAN ANGELO, TX -- Ricky Ray Zuniga will escape the death penalty in his capital murder trial for the shooting deaths of Jimmy Gonzales and Anthony Martinez in 2016 and the jury trial hasn’t even begun yet.
Attorneys Friday morning were discussing a defense motion to suppress Zuniga’s video interview taken at the police station the day after the shooting when District Attorney Allison Palmer informed the court that the San Angelo Police Department was unable to find the in-car video of the detention of Zuniga. Three police officers testified Friday that they searched the servers for the video and haven’t been able to locate it since 2016. Under cross examination, officers said they had no explanation about how the video went missing.
Zuniga, 27, was charged with capital murder along with co-defendants Raymond Alvarado, Krystal Lerma and Justin Gamez. Lerma was charged with burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit robbery. They are accused of robbing the two men at a residence on Rio Grande St. in San Angelo on Sept. 12, 2016.
Alvarado was accused of shooting Gonzales and Martinez to death during the robbery.
Alvarado took a plea deal in June that sent him to prison without the possibility of parole.
A Tom Green County jury found Lerma guilty in June as well and District Judge Ben Woodward sentenced her to 27 years in prison for her role in the murders.
In an interview at the police station, Zuniga said he, along with Raymond Alvarado, drove to Gonzales’ house on Rio Grande that night. Alvarado, the complaint said, told Zuniga he had intentions of stealing from Gonzales. Once the duo arrived, the two went inside and a fight ensued with Martinez. Sometime during the fight, Zuniga told police Alvarado brandished a firearm.
He asked Martinez “where his money was.” Shortly thereafter, Zuniga told police he heard gunfire and “got out of the house.”
Zuniga said he went back to Gamez’s truck that the two arrived in. Alvarado then got into the backseat of the truck, and Gamez drove them away from the house. Zuniga told police Alvarado had killed both Martinez and Gonzales.
Gamez is still awaiting a trial date.
During a three hour final pretrial hearing Friday morning, District Attorney Allison Palmer confirmed to Judge Woodward that she had taken the death penalty off the table and Zuniga was now facing life in prison without the possibility of parole. Zuniga’s lead Defense Attorney Kirk Hawkins told the judge he would seek a lesser charge of second degree murder which carries a lighter penalty.
Judge Woodward said they would need a jury pool of 75 and would need to question them about the range of punishment.
The bulk of the testimony Friday centered on the missing in-car video and the video at the police station of Zuniga’s first interview. Palmer played a portion of the video for the judge that showed Zuniga being read his miranda rights and acknowledging he understood he had the right to be silent. The video shows him waiving those rights and freely giving an interview to police.
Judge Woodward set jury selection to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 16 with the trial expecting to last six days not including the punishment phase.
At the end of the pretrial hearing Friday morning, Judge Woodward said he wouldn’t rule on the motion to suppress the video until a later date. He also formally arraigned Zuniga after Palmer read the indictment. Zuniga is facing two counts of aggravated capital murder. He pleaded not guilty to both counts.
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