Capital Murder Defendant Faces Judge Before Jury Trial

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Accused capital murderer Eric Martinez appeared before District Judge Barbara Walther Tuesday morning in preparation for his Nov. jury trial.

Martinez, 29, is accused of conspiring with three others in the murder of an eldery San Angelo Man in a home invasion.  The four defendants are accused of killing 69-year-old William Valdez while invading his home on August 31, 2015.

The crime took place in the 500 block of N. Sellers St.

Those charged in the crime are Elisa Losoya, 28, Martinez, Fernando Lavaris, and Jonathan Marin, 26.

Marin took a plea deal earlier that sent him to prison for life.  Losoya has a pretrial hearing Wednesday. Lavaris has a jury trial set for May 2019.  

According to court documents, Losoya approached Guillermo Valdez, who lived with the victim at the house, telling him they needed to talk.As Guillermo went back to the house and locked the door, the four broke into a glass door and threatened Valdez asking for money and not to call the police.

Valdez was shot in his left arm and taken to Shannon Medical Center, where he later died.  

While Martinez is charged with capital murder, he is not facing the death penalty.  If he is found guilty of capital murder the sentence would automatically be life in prison without parole.  The judge could also charge the jury with a lesser charge which would allow for a lesser punishment.

Martinez sat handcuffed in an orange jail jumpsuit between defense attorneys Randol Stout and Tom Davidson.  There were no motions taken up Tuesday morning. Judge Walther set the final pretrial hearing for Oct. 17 at 1:30 p.m.  The jury trial is set to begin Nov. 5.